Spellbound
by ohmytheon
Summary: (Modern Fantasy AU) Detective Uraraka is just trying to do her job and navigate her feelings for one very prickly werewolf, but in a world where myths are real, anything can happen. When she's targeted by the serial killer that she and her elven partner, Midoriya, are trying to stop, it's going to take a bit of magic to save the day.
1. AU

**Notes:** So this is my entry for Kacchako Bittersweet Week! I'm...honestly not sure where this is going. I've only finished three of the prompts so far and am literally winging it. Whatever the next prompt says takes the story to the next place. There is no plan for this and I'm probably in over my head trying to write a murder-mystery type story inside of a Modern Fantasy setting, but well, such is life. I borrowed the world I created for my sorta Izuocha fic, "The Mythical Kind". Yes, a bit cheap, but I really loved that world and felt like I could explore more of it. More characters, relationships, and tags will be added as I finish the prompts. Like I said, I have no fucking clue where this is gonna end up. Such is life.

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own shit.

* * *

 _DAY ZERO: AU_

* * *

No amount of tea could keep her awake, which was near impossible considering the amount of herbs she had put in that last batch. That stuff should have been able to keep her bouncing off the walls for days, not just a measly forty-eight hours. Was she getting weaker? No, that was her tried and true recipe. She was simply that exhausted after working for almost three days straight. This case really was getting the best of her. Maybe she should've taken a break like Deku had suggested.

Uraraka was staring hopelessly at her computer, woeful over the old case files that she had yet to comb through, when a paper bird began to flutter around her desk. At first she ignored it, used to the old things. Eventually it would settle down and perch on her desk until she was ready to unfold it and read the note. However, this one had other things in mind. It quickly turned into an origami nightmare and began to actually peck at her hands.

"Okay, okay! I'm sorry, oh impatient one!" Uraraka snatched the bird out of the air between her two hands, which proved to be a mistake when it gave her a papercut on her palm, causing her to wince. It soon calmed down and when she finally opened her hands, the bird slowly unfolded itself into a creased, harmless note.

 _You're going to be useless if you keep going like this. Take a damn break!_

Uraraka's eyes almost rolled out of her head. Of course the violent note was from Bakugou. Did he have to charm them to be so vicious if ignored? He probably wanted to get his point across. Looking at the red spots on her hand and the cut on her palm, it had certainly done the trick. She set the note down and leaned back in her chair, rubbing her eyes with a fist. When she stared back at her computer, its dull glow only stared right back at her. The files would still be here when she got back. Besides, she couldn't do much without her partner here anyways.

Dragging herself out of her chair, Uraraka groaned and pressed her hands to the small of her back as she stretched. How long had she been in that chair? And how had Bakugou known that she was running herself ragged? He could have called her. It wouldn't have had the same effect as coming to the station and sending her a very aggressive paper bird to attack her into taking a break.

After sweeping her long coat off the back of her chair, she threw it over her shoulders and slipped her arms into the sleeves. She snagged her hat off the side of her desk and plopped it on her head as she walked over to her Captain's office and knocked on the door. "I'm heading out for the night."

"Got anymore of that tea?" Aizawa looked about as exhausted as she felt as he set his glasses down and pinched the bridge of his nose. Maybe he hadn't been working as long as her, but he dealt with the higher ups and the public, which was even worse. Neither had been kind to them recently with this case in the headlines.

Uraraka smiled apologetically. "All out, I'm afraid. I don't think it was doing much good anyway at this point."

Aizawa sighed. "I hate when things get political. It's so exhausting." He waved a hand at her. "Get some rest. I would rather you be well-rested than hopped up on something."

"It's an herbal recipe," Uraraka reminded him. Before he could make another smart remark, his phone rang and he answered it without hesitation. He was a stronger man than her. Every time the phone at her desk rang, she shrank away from it for a few seconds. If she heard one more tip about how it was aliens, she was going to lose it.

Witches, werewolves, trolls, dragons, orcs, vampires, elves, and more? That was regular life.

Aliens though? Absolutely absurd.

That wasn't even counting the many calls of people proclaiming it was werewolves. She'd hung up on the last person that had started on a rant.

The ride to the left and down the elevator was quick, but Uraraka still spent half of it slumped against the wall with the side of her head pressed against the cool metal. If it went on any longer, she could probably fall asleep here and wake up about ten hours later wondering where she was. She did have something of a bad habit of falling asleep in places around her apartment that weren't her bed. Tired as she was, she didn't even bother lifting her head when the doors opened, despite knowing full well who would be on the other side waiting for her.

"Took you long enough," Bakugou snarled, arms folded across his chest.

"Aw, you really do care," Uraraka teased, although she was too sleepy to push it even further.

"Yeah, yeah," he grumbled as he reached into the elevator to grab her by the arm and pull her out. "Deku sent me a text asking if I could check on you. He must be out of it too because I think he meant to send it to Iida."

Uraraka paused to blink at him before stepping outside. "And you came anyways?"

"Yeah, apparently you weren't answering your phone," Bakugou pointed out. That was surprising since she'd had her phone on her the whole… She fished it out of her pocket and looked down at it. Dead. Well, that answered the question of why Bakugou had sent her a murderous pigeon note. "You need to keep it charged. Shit is real dangerous right now and you're running around with a dead phone."

"And a wand," Uraraka added, flicking her sleeve so that her wand slid into her hand. He scoffed, but didn't argue the point. He knew that she could take care of herself, but he could also see the exhaustion written all over her. The thing about magic was that the stronger it was the more energy it took out of a person. Uraraka considered herself to be stronger than the average witch, at least by a hair, but fighting in this condition could knock her out cold. "You don't need to worry about me so much. It's not a witch hunt."

Bakugou didn't appreciate the pun at all, judging from the unimpressed look on his face. "I'm serious, Uraraka. You need to be more vigilant. Whatever is going on, we're in the shit right now."

He was right, of course, and Uraraka didn't have to say anything for him to know that. She sighed and nodded her head before choosing her exit and stepping through the sliding glass door. There wasn't just one entry port to the police department. There were a number of entrances across the city that a person could choose from, as long as they had a passcode. She and Deku had given Bakugou theirs just in case ages ago.

When she passed through the glass door and came out the other, Uraraka was first hit with the smell of smoke. It was a familiar scent in this area, reminding her of childhood. Growing up, her home had been permeated with the smell of whatever was being cooked in the cauldron, but the smoke from below was always there as well. This was a different kind of smoke, but she would take what she could get.

Glancing over, she caught Bakugou wrinkling his nose in distaste. It wasn't near the full moon, but his sense of smell was heightened regardless of the day of the month. He didn't like her neighborhood. Granted, it was fairly sketchy. On a scale of one to ten – where ten was a bunker warded to the teeth with protective spells and one was a flimsy wood shack – her neighborhood was about a four. He, Deku, and Iida had been harping on her to move, but it was easier said than done. Maybe when she got her bonus…

"You didn't have to walk me home," Uraraka said as they walked down a dimly lit sidewalk.

"And risk you falling asleep in an alley?" Bakugou shook his head. "I don't think so."

"Now it's my turn to be the serious one." Uraraka stepped ahead of him and turned on her heels so that she was facing him, stopping him cold in his tracks. "It's not safe for you out here."

He rolled his eyes. To get his attention, she reached out and snagged the strings of his hood, pulling it tighter around his head. He instinctively lifted his hands to make sure that the hood was covering him properly. It wouldn't do good for his ears to show. His long green coat was able to hide his fluffy tail well enough, but the ears would be a dead giveaway. She could still remember her surprise when she'd met Bakugou for the first time. Werewolves in her part had been hunted down, but in the city, they roamed freely, if not without prejudice against them.

"I can take care of myself," Bakugou quipped, baring his teeth in a vicious smirk. His canines gleamed dangerously under the flame of the streetlamp. Not as sharp as a vampire's without it being the full moon, they were still capable of puncturing a man's jugular should he be so inclined. He could kill her quite easily if he was in one of his frenzies. Even without the influence of the full moon, he had superhuman strength and many people said the bloodlust was still strong in them too.

Uraraka knew that he would never hurt her though. They might've gotten into some pretty heated arguments, but she had never once been afraid that he would attack her simply to hurt her.

"Even so, like you said, we're in the shit, but especially werewolves," Uraraka said gently, smoothing his hood down. She could feel his ears twitch underneath and pulled her hand away before he could tell her off. "I'd rather not get another call from Kirishima asking if I can bail you out. Everyone at the station thinks I'm dating a ruffian."

Bakugou's face flushed pink. "We're not–"

She couldn't help but laugh at his reaction, folding her hands behind her back and taking a few steps back. He spent so much time teasing her that it was nice to get one over him every once in a while. "I know. You'd never be interested in a cop, much less a low level witch." He narrowed his eyes at her, but chose to say nothing as he started to follow her again. She knew that she could be stronger. Deku constantly reassured her that she was one of the strongest witches he knew, but then she'd remind him that he'd only met three witches total. "I'm still allowed to worry about you, aren't I? Especially since you won't let me give you that enchanted watch."

"You know I don't fuck with magic," Bakugou told her.

"You fuck with me," Uraraka shot back mockingly. He stared at her for a beat before his lips pulled up into a smirk and his red eyes glittered. This time, her face burned red and she spun back around so that he couldn't see her face. She hadn't meant it like that, especially after that last comment. "What I mean is: it's me – it's my magic – and the watch only has a protective spell on it. Okay, that's a lie. It's also enchanted to always have the perfect time. What's the point of it not being functional too?"

Bakugou opened his mouth to argue with her when he suddenly stopped, his brow furrowed and his smirk turning into a frown. "Do you smell that?" Uraraka looked around and shook her head. Maybe it was a little smellier because the garbage man was late picking up the trash, but that was all she could think of. "It smells like something's burning."

"Something is always burning around here." True, the scent of smoke was heavy in the air, but she didn't think much of it. Smoke was a part of the aesthetic at this point. That was the price of living by a factory that mass-produced magical potions. They weren't anywhere near as potent or good as home-brewed ones, but those were much harder to come by. She usually stuck to making her own since it was cheaper in the long run.

"No, it's…" Bakugou broke into a run, leaving Uraraka in the dust.

She took off after him and shouted, "Wait!" but he was much quicker than her. Even if he didn't have a werewolf's unnatural speed, he would've beat her. She had always been a slow runner. He passed two blocks before she had even made it down one and then disappeared around the corner. "Bakugou, stop!" Her coat was flapping behind her like a cloak and slapping the back of her legs. When she rounded the corner, she ran smack into Bakugou's back. He was so solid though that she didn't knock him over. "What are you–?"

The rest of her question was snatched right out of her mouth as she caught sight of the scene Bakugou was staring at. A large building was on fire. Her apartment building was on fire. There were dozens of fire trucks, cop cars, and ambulances surrounding it in an attempt to put it out and help any of the victims, but it was no use. One second it was a regular fire and the next the fire burned a bright blue and grew exponentially like it was a hungry, living monster. As the flames ate every inch of the building, black smoke billowed into the sky.

When she'd said that something was always burning, she hadn't meant her home.

"Did you leave a cauldron simmering before you left?" Bakugou asked.

"What? No!" Uraraka was almost insulted that he'd even insinuated such a thing, but he didn't seem to be aware of what he was saying. "That's not from some slow simmering potion gone wrong or someone leaving their crockpot or coffee maker plugged in." She pointed an accusing finger at the burning building. " _That_...is magic."

Any decent witch could've spotted the most subtle magic a mile away. Now that she was watching it three blocks down, she could feel it pulsing in the air, breathing life and death into her at the same time. If she had ever been tired before, she was alert and awake now, although that might have been because she'd fallen into a state beyond exhaustion. Her eyes were locked onto the red and yellow flames, taking in how alive they looked. Fire was a beast in its own and the creatures capable of it fiercer than most. Not all of them were as mild as Todoroki.

Bakugou turned to her. "Uraraka…"

Hearing her name in that wary tone made everything come crashing down on her all at once. Her apartment was gone. It was destroyed, turned to nothing but ash and soot. "I… Everything I owned was in there…" Luckily she hid her money in a safe elsewhere, but it wasn't nearly enough along with what she had in the bank to replace all that the fire had taken from her. She had insurance, of course, but only the bare minimum that she could afford. "What am I going to do?" She wasn't thinking properly. The alertness she felt only seconds ago began to evaporate, replaced by a bone tired exhaustion that made her want to cry. "Where am I going to sleep?"

"Uraraka," Bakugou repeated. She snapped out of it and glanced at him. There was a fire in his eyes that matched the intensity of the burning building. "I'm pretty sure you've got bigger problems that that." She blinked thickly, her thoughts muddled at best. "If this was done by magic, I don't think it was an accident." He pointed at the buildings next to hers. "Look; they aren't catching. It's just your building. No one on the force has the ability to create a barrier like that but you. It was _targeted_."

That took Uraraka back. "Targeted?"

"You're in danger," Bakugou growled, his hackles practically raised. "That case you're working on? It must be a lot worse than you thought."

Uraraka's eyes swept from Bakugou to her apartment. Judging by the state of the first responders and the building, it had caught on fire suddenly and spread fast. As much as it pained her, she knew that it was impossible to expect that everyone had survived. How many people had died? What for? What was worth ending so many lives just to get to her? Had they thought she was home? Or had they known she wasn't and did it as a threat to stop her? And if they had attacked her place, who wasn't to say that they wouldn't go after Deku, Aizawa, or anyone else on the case?

"We have to call Deku," Uraraka decided, eyes snapping back to him.

Bakugou's nostrils flared. "No shit." He tugged her witch's hat off her head and threw his arm around her, pulling her close to him and guiding him back around the corner. In her case, the signature hat she wore would give her identity away. Without it, she looked like the average civilian. She another woman on the street. Huddled so close to him, his familiar scent washed over her and the heat of his body burned through his coat. "But first we gotta get you out of here. There's a chance whoever did this is waiting for you to show up on the scene. Best not give them the chance."

"Where are we going?" Uraraka asked worriedly. Back to the police station? It was difficult for people to get in there.

Bakugou didn't answer her though as he pulled out his phone and clicked on Deku's contact. Uraraka glanced back one last time, taking in the sight of the smoke reaching into the heavens. What the hell was going on? Magic was supposed to be used for good, not this, not the crimes that she'd been investigating since transferring here into the city. It was unnatural. It was _wrong_. Even the dark arts wasn't always bad, but this? Oh, this felt like a sickness and it was growing as surely as the flames.


	2. Pining

_DAY ONE: PINING_

* * *

Uraraka had never been in his apartment before.

Bakugou had been at her place. It was – had been – a cramped thing, stuffed to the brim with shelves full of books and ingredients. There were spellbooks, potions books, ancient runes books, and an astrology one that looked like it had come straight of out Cosmo. How was she going to read those silly zodiac predictions when she should look to the actual stars for guidance? What a ridiculous witch. Some of her fresher ingredients were hanging from the ceiling and a large cauldron was tucked away in her kitchen across from the stove.

All in all, it had given an almost otherworldly feeling, the place a strange dark green with sunlight-blocking curtains that she pulled back whenever company came over. Apparently light affected some concoctions. Heat was one of the biggest factors when it came to making potions and damaging ingredients from what he remembered in school. Seeing as how her apartment had gone up in flames, everything was kind of toast at this point.

After seeing her place destroyed, Bakugou hadn't hesitated in taking her to his place. He knew it was the safest place for her right now since no one would expect it. Only two people knew where he lived and he'd sworn both Kirishima and Sero to silence under the threat of death. Maybe they didn't take him seriously, but they hadn't told anyone either. Uraraka was obviously surprised at finding out that he lived in a high rise and a nice one at that. She would never say why, but he knew what she was thinking.

Werewolves did not live in nice places like this. They usually didn't have the money.

Bakugou watched Uraraka carefully as she wandered around his place aimlessly with wide eyes. He could tell she was taking it all in, but none of it was actually sinking in. She was in too much shock from seeing her apartment building burning to the ground. It wouldn't be long before even that gave out and she crashed. Deku had said in the text that she had been working for three days straight without sleeping. No amount of teas or potions would be able to keep her alert for that long without drawbacks.

Speaking of Deku, that nerd better keep an eye out. If Uraraka was targeted, likely he would be as well, seeing as how he was on the case with her. Bakugou didn't often have to worry about Deku (read: never), but he had done the stupid thing and placed himself in the most awkward position as one of the very few elves on the force. It was rare for a witch to be a cop, but it put a target on his back as an elf from both sides. Looked down upon by his own kind and scorned by others, it wasn't surprising that he'd be attacked.

Uraraka was a good witch though. She was compassionate, friendly to a fault, radiated warmth, and smelled like smoke, sweets, and daisies in a valley on a sunny day. Not that he paid attention to her scent. Not that he was having trouble focusing now as she ran her hands along the back of his couch, coating his furniture in the smell. Damn her. He was going to have to clean this entire place to get rid of her after she was gone. There was a good reason why she'd never been over to his apartment. She invaded his space without even realizing it.

"Are you sure it's okay I stay the night here?" Uraraka asked, turning around to face him.

"Deku agreed it was the safest bet for now until we find an alternative," Bakugou told her, burying his hands in his pockets. The fact that they'd actually agreed on something without arguing first was a pretty big deal, one that had silenced any of her insecurities when he'd finally told her where they were going. "A hotel is the first place anyone with half a brain will look for you."

"I don't want to intrude," Uraraka said, biting her lip. "I know how much you value your privacy."

Bakugou did his best to not look at the way her teeth gnawed worryingly at her bottom lip, but it was hard. If he wasn't careful, his stupid tail would betray him. He'd found it swaying subconsciously a time or two whenever he was around her and he didn't like it at all. He didn't want her to think that he was fond of her or anything. "I'll manage. I can afford to lose some privacy."

 _He could not afford to lose her._ It took everything in his power to keep a straight face without looking away and not wince at that implication. Uraraka stared at him, her cheeks pinker than normal, but then nodded and turned around, accepting the decision as final and moving on from the conversation. He was grateful for that. Honestly, he was getting sloppy and he needed to work on it.

"Merlin, this is so messed up and I don't know what to do," Uraraka sighed as she collapsed on his couch. She threw herself to the side, smothering her face in one of his throw pillows and hugging the other against her chest. Bakugou tried not to huff. She might as well be rolling around in his stuff. He wasn't going to tell her off though. The last thing he needed to do was snap at her for was how much she smelled. It could've been worse. She could've smelled like ash and blood. She could've smelled like death instead of life.

Moving to his hallway, Bakugou opened a closet and rummaged around in it for blankets and a few extra pillows. He wasn't even sure why he owned stuff like this, except for his mother harassing him that he would need it one day. It wasn't like he had guests stay over often. Kirishima had a few times, but that was only because he was hard-headed enough to challenge every orc to a drinking competition once a month. Stepping back into the living room, he tossed the stuff at Uraraka, making her yelp as the blanket floated over her face and a pillow landed on her side.

"Get some sleep," Bakugou ordered. "That's all you can do."

"I don't think I can do that," Uraraka mumbled, her voice muffled under the duvet. "I keep thinking about that fire and how many people died. If it was just to get to me..."

This time, Bakugou did huff. He stepped around the couch and kicked her feet off so that he could plop down on it next to her. "It wasn't your fault."

"Maybe if we'd been more careful to keep the investigation from going public," Uraraka countered, still hiding her face out of shame. "Maybe if someone else had been on it instead of me and Deku, the culprit would've been caught already."

"You know as well as I do that half of what you know wouldn't have been found out by anyone else but you two," Bakugou argued. It wasn't often he complimented Deku either, but the nerd was a great detective. It was what made other elves shaming him so obnoxious. He hated most of them since they didn't like his kind much either – and he would be the first to admit that he'd thought the same of Deku for the longest time when they were stupid kids – but it was downright idiotic of them for ganging up on him. They wouldn't think that way when he was the Chief of Detectives or some other high-level asshat. And he would get there. Bakugou had no doubt of that.

Just as he didn't doubt Uraraka's abilities. The only one who seemed to do that was Uraraka herself and he couldn't understand why. He didn't know much about magic. Werewolves tended to be wary of it by nature. He wasn't sure why, but it was how he'd been brought up to think. Truth be told, he hadn't trusted Uraraka one lick when he'd first met her through Deku when they'd become partners, positive that she would try to turn him into a toad or poison him, but she'd proved him very wrong on several occasions. It burned him to think that she didn't see herself the same way that everyone else did.

"Listen to me, Uraraka," Bakugou said, laying a hand on one of her ankles, her feet the only thing not hidden by the blanket. "You're gonna catch whoever did this and you're gonna put them away for good. For now though, you need to rest or you're not gonna do jack shit. You're better than this – you're better than _them –_ but you won't be if you're fit to pass out at any second."

"Great pep talk, boss," Uraraka joked humorlessly, but then she pulled the blanket down from over her head. There was a hollow look in her big brown eyes that pulled at him, but he didn't move or say anything. He could almost taste her grief in the air. She always did wear her heart on her sleeve. It was what had made him trust her. No one could have such an honest scent and be a liar. He didn't care how good someone was; they weren't better than him. "I'll try to sleep, but I'm honestly worried about the nightmares. I'm pretty good about it now, but when I was younger, I, uh, let off some rogue magic when I had night terrors. Normally I take a dreamless sleep potion to ward them off, but that's a moot point."

Bakugou frowned. "You're not gonna destroy my place in your sleep, are you?"

Uraraka gave him a sheepish smile. "Hopefully not."

He could only imagine the struggle her parents had gone through. She had told him they owned a family apothecary and expected her to follow them in the business. When she started bursting with more magic than either of them could have hoped to contain combined, they realized she wasn't mean for a small town. She had a brighter future than anyone could imagine. What a nightmare it must have been trying to raise a child who didn't know their own strength. They should've talked to his parents about it. He had been an absolute terror, always stronger than all the other kids his age.

"I'll stay up with you then," Bakugou decided. "We can pop in a movie and I bet you'll fall asleep in minutes."

At this, Uraraka bolted upright, so fast that she almost smacked into him and he had to lean back, his hand sliding off her ankles as she swung her feet to the ground. "Oh no, I can't do that to you. I'll be fine! You've already done so much for me."

"Can it, Uraraka," Bakugou growled. "I'm just doing this to ensure you don't wreck my shit."

"Oh." She paused to think it over and then nodded. "Valid point." Her lips twisted as another thought entered her mind. Immediately, a different kind of discomfort threatened to swallow her. He could sense the awkwardness as heat began to radiate from her. "I, um– Never mind, it's not a big deal." She smiled, but the feeling didn't go away. "So what movie did you want to watch? Can it be a comedy?"

"Just ask the damn question," Bakugou said flatly, ignoring her change in direction.

Uraraka wrung her hands together nervously. "I was just thinking... I don't have anything to sleep in. All my clothes are probably a pile of ash and the clothes I've been wearing for over twenty-four hours are comfortable, but, erm, not for sleeping..."

Did she always have to make things like this a big deal? If she didn't, then they wouldn't make him so flustered either. "For fuck's sake, Uraraka, you need a shower."

She harrumphed. "You could've said something earlier if it was so bad–"

"No, I mean–" Why was she so fucking difficult sometimes? Bakugou rubbed his temple. "You need a shower to relax. It'll help. Trust me. Take a hot shower. There's a towel in there already. I'll get you a change of clothes and throw yours in the laundry. By the time you're finished, I'll have a movie on and you'll practically be begging to sleep."

The stare she had fixed on him was too long and too open. He didn't like it one bit. Folding his arms across his chest, he stared back at her, too dominant to let it go unchecked even though he knew it wasn't a competition for her. However, when a soft smile appeared on her face, still as bright as the sun, he looked away. "Thanks, Bakugou. I mean it. You don't have to do all this."

"Yeah, well, someone's gotta look out for you," Bakugou grumbled, "since you're hellbent on throwing yourself into danger without even looking."

"That's the job." Uraraka stood up and lifted her arms above her head, stretching her body ou as much as she could like some sort of cat. Her buttoned-up shirt lifted, exposing the soft skin of her tummy, and he thought, not for the first time, that she trusted him too much. Even after all this time, he didn't know what to do with that information. "Besides, I'd do the same for you. That's what friends are for."

A cold glass of water would do wonders for the dry mouth he suddenly had now. "Whatever. Get a move on."

The moment she slunk out of the room and into the bathroom, Bakugou jumped to his feet and shirked his coat off. He was hotter than hell and that thing wasn't helping, not with the way their scents were mixing together in a way that was altogether too pleasant. When he'd pulled her close to him in order to hide her from any onlookers at the scene of the fire, she'd gotten all over the thing. The full moon was a few days from now and, while he didn't have to worry about changing on her and going rabid, his senses were heightened to extreme levels.

 _Get your shit together,_ he scolded himself. _Now is not the time._

Uraraka's apartment had been destroyed. She was in the middle of a difficult investigation that was proving to be more dangerous every second. She was embroiled in politics when witches typically stayed out of disputes. The world was turning on its end and she was going to need someone to help keep her centered if she was going to remain focused and safe. The last thing she needed was him pining after her like some fucking dog in heat.

Not to mention Asui would probably poison him or Todoroki burn him alive if he even so much as tried anything. He wouldn't – he wasn't a fucking jagoff – but it was something of a relief to know that she had friends that would stick up for her should anyone try. And that was if she didn't hex him six ways to Sunday. She didn't want him coming onto her, not now, not ever. Strange as they were together, they were friends and he would uphold his end of the bargain when she had done so much for him without him ever asking.


	3. Fall

**notes:** Despite some serious topics in this chapter, it's kind of silly. You know, gotta have some fluff to balance out the angst. Also catch me diving into this world more. I had a bomb ass discussion about it on the Kacchako Discord, which was super exciting. But yeah, in between this so-called mystery (it's...not...), I'm just here to build some delicious tension between our two mains. Poor Deku. He's out here seeing and knowing all this shit, but his partner and friend/rival are oblivious. He's such a trooper.

* * *

 _Day 2: Fall_

* * *

Seeing as how her apartment was literally burnt toast, Uraraka spent most of the next two days at work, but she slept at Bakugou's. The one bright side of this whole mess was that Deku's place hadn't been torched, which they figured meant that Uraraka was the one targeted. To be honest, Uraraka didn't think Bakugou believed that. He was so suspicious about everything - to the point where he walked her to the police transportation stations and also did perimeter checks around his place. She knew he wanted her to be safe, but he didn't have to do so much. She'd offered to sleep at the department only once. He had reacted so poorly that she hadn't brought it up again.

His pride was so fickle at times, not that she'd never brought it up. The one time she had a few months after she had first met him, he'd acted like his brain had short-circuited and he hadn't talked to her for weeks. She still wasn't sure if she had offended him or his pride had been too damaged to confront her.

"How's staying with Kacchan?" Deku asked from behind his computer.

Uraraka narrowed her eyes at the very careful tone Deku used when asking her that question. "It's fine. He's more of a neat freak than I expected."

"Ha, yeah, he's always been very particular about that," Deku mused thoughtfully. A frown twitched onto his lips as he typed something into her computer. They'd been trying to connect any past crimes with the ones they'd been dealing with. A few had matched, but the dates were troublesome. "Werewolves are known to be messy. I think he's obsessive about cleanliness simply to discredit the stereotype."

"It wouldn't be so bad if he didn't clean and spray everything right after I leave," Uraraka grumbled under her breath.

Deku suddenly started to cough, the fit so strong that she sat up in concern, but he waved a dismissive hand at her and managed to choke out, "I'm fine." After another minute of coughing, he came to a stop, leaning over in his chair to catch his breath. When he sat back up, he held his water bottle up. "Water went down the wrong way."

"Mmhm." Uraraka eyed him suspiciously but didn't argue with him. That coughing fit came at a very auspicious time. His cheeks were probably red from the physical exertion, but it looked like he was blushing as he leaned forward and focused very intensely on whatever was on his laptop screen.

The rest of the day crept by slowly. More often than not, they were like this, which made the investigation all the more frustrating. Aizawa kept a line open with the fire department so any information about the arson case could get passed onto her, but even that had been at a standstill. It had been done with magic, but they already knew that. She had a suspicion that they knew more than they were telling Aizawa, but neither one of them could be certain. There had been something off about that fire, just as there was something wrong about the murders she and Deku had been looking into for months.

Both had been made to look like one thing, but were something else entirely. The murders were framed to look like a werewolf had committed them when they knew that they weren't. All the spells Uraraka had cast over the crime scenes had pointed at an elf, which was making everyone nervous, especially the bigwigs. The fire had been made to look like a magic spell gone awry, but there had been something familiar about them that she struggled to place, like she'd seen it before. She didn't mess with fire spells that often for the reasons that they were volatile and had a habit of turning on the caster if not particularly skilled.

With no new information pouring in - no tips, no clues, nothing - there was very little that she or Deku could do but wait until something else happened or they made another connection. Deku was pretty good at piecing together puzzles, especially when combined with her magic, but even he was hitting a wall. Both of them knew the clock was running down though and it made them anxious. Like it or not, in two days, if they hadn't magically caught the culprit, another murder would happen the night of the full moon.

She hoped Bakugou was okay. The tension about werewolves had grown in the city when the fact about the dates had been leaked to the press. Aizawa was still furious over that. He ran a tight ship. She could still remember the harsh reaming that he had given everyone in the bullpen. He'd been so mad that he looked ready to go rabid and tear someone to bits with his bare hands. He hadn't, but the image hadn't been a pleasant one.

With their shift over and nothing to be done, Deku sighed and slumped in his chair. "I need to do something different tomorrow. I can't just sit here and wait for the next murder to drop in our laps."

"Or deal with the tip line any longer," Uraraka grumbled. Tip lines were helpful, but they could be a remarkable waste of time too. Even though both Aizawa and Deku had made statements to newspapers that the murders were not being committed by a werewolf, people still kept calling in to make accusations on their werewolf neighbors or the one that worked at a butcher shop and the like.

Deku smiled sheepishly. "I set mine up so they have to go through an automated machine first. If they're calling about a werewolf in regards to the case, they're to hang up."

Uraraka snorted. "That's so petty."

"I had someone from evidence tell me that I shouldn't let Kacchan near you," Deku said, rolling his eyes. That did surprise her. She had kind of hoped that the same prejudice against werewolves didn't extend to the force, seeing as how they had a few on it, but apparently there could still be hypocrites as cops all the same. It was disappointing. "As if I can control you or tell you who should or shouldn't be around."

"Bakugou wouldn't hurt me," Uraraka insisted. She was half in mind to find out who that cop in evidence was and march down there to give them a piece of her mind. Deku would try not to tell her in an attempt to keep things civil, but she'd get it out of him in the end. Likely he had already told them off, but still. What right did anyone have to dictate how she lived her life or who she spent her time with?

Deku shrugged his shoulders. "I know that. Kacchan would lock himself up before hurting you." When Uraraka gave him a confused look, he hastily added, "I mean, you know, because he hates it when people stereotype werewolves as violent creatures that always give in to their animalistic impulses."

"He gets into loads of fights," Uraraka pointed out.

"That's definitely more his personality than what he is," Deku said with a laugh. She wasn't wrong. Both of them had stopped him from getting into fights with people. She had stopped the two of them fighting on more than one occasion. Bakugou was a naturally antagonistic person. She'd never associated that with him being a werewolf. He could've been a fairy or a high elf and he would've been the same. "Ah, c'mon, let's get out of here. I'll walk you to Kacchan's place."

Uraraka huffed as she got up from her chair. "I can take care of myself, you know."

"I know that," Deku replied cheekily as he slid his arms into his jacket. "I also know that Kacchan will rip me a new one if I don't."

"So what you're telling me is that you're more afraid of him than me," Uraraka said as she put hers on.

Deku placed his laptop in his messenger bag and pulled the strap over his head. "That's exactly it."

She was going to have to remedy that. Sure, Bakugou was a lot scarier, but she thought that she was pretty tough too. Granted, she knew that she didn't look scary. On top of those sharp canines and glaring red eyes, Bakugou had built up a fearsome reputation while she… Well, she wasn't even threatening by witch standards. There was more mystery surrounding witches and their covens outside of the city. Here, she was treated more like an unusual commodity.

It turned out that Deku didn't actually know where Bakugou lived since he had moved in the past year. Uraraka knew better than to question that. Out of all their mutual friends, Deku had known Bakugou the longest, but they weren't close like most childhood friends. At first, she had thought that they hated each other - or at least Bakugou hated Deku - but it wasn't the case. She didn't know how to describe it. Mutual respect and understanding next to a not-always-friendly rivalry and stubbornness. It was easier to concoct a lust potion than figure out what they were.

"Well, this is it," Uraraka said, waving at the nice high-rise building.

Deku raised his eyebrows. "Oh, he's really doing good for himself. I'm proud."

"What does he do for a living exactly?" Uraraka asked warily. She'd known him for two years and had come to realize since staying with him that she didn't know, which was weird. Surely she had asked him before. Had he just not told her? When she looked back on it, she realized that he'd evaded the question every time. It couldn't be that big of a deal. He was a private person, but he also liked to brag. He had a...healthy-sized ego.

"Oh, a little bit of this, a little bit of that," Deku replied mysteriously.

Uraraka frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means you should ask him," Deku said with a laugh.

She didn't know why he couldn't just tell her now, but she figured that it was because it was Bakugou's business. What if it was something illegal? No, she didn't think it was that. It would make Deku uncomfortable. Besides, too many people thought that werewolves were crooks; Bakugou wouldn't do something that fed into that negative stereotype. Whatever it was, she decided to ask him today.

After telling Deku goodbye and parting ways, Uraraka stepped into the building. The man at the front desk knew to let her in by now and they waved at each other pleasantly. The ride up the elevator was somewhat hypnotic, lulling her into a peaceful mood. This building was much nicer than hers. Well, it was infinitely nicer than hers, considering that her building had been turned into a burnt pile of debris. Still, she couldn't deny being surprised at how nice this place was. It was expensive. The rent had to be almost double of what hers had been.

At first, Uraraka had thought that Bakugou wasn't home. She used the spare key that he'd given her to get inside and immediately headed for the bathroom so that she could wash her face.

Only to stumble upon Bakugou coming out of the bathroom half-naked.

The noise that slipped out of Uraraka's mouth was a half squeal/half scream. She didn't manage any words as she staggered backward whereas Bakugou shouted, "What the fuck!" She hit the back of the couch and tumbled, falling over it in a very unceremonious manner. Lying upside down on the couch with her feet in the air and her long jacket flung over her face, she felt completely disoriented, but that still couldn't distract her from the fact that she had seen Bakugou in a state of undress that she'd never seen before.

"Fuck, Uraraka, can't you fucking knock first?" Bakugou barked furiously.

Uraraka didn't move except to press her hands over her face so that there were two layers shielding her. She couldn't remember a time when her face had been so red before in her life. "I'm-I'm sorry. I didn't know you were home." Her clumsiness had definitely worked against her and she had found herself in quite a few awkward situations, but this had to take the cake.

"Gods, you're such a clumsy mess," Bakugou grumbled.

"I'm not that bad…" Pulling her legs over the couch, Uraraka had to awkwardly roll off onto the floor, her coat flipping over her. After shoving it over her head and back in place, she found herself crouched down with her hands on the cushions. All in all, it had been one of her least graceful actions. She was capable of powerful magic of all kinds and even flying to a certain extent, but she flopped backward on the couch because she walked in on Bakugou only wearing a towel.

The redness of her cheeks didn't have the chance to fade away when she lifted her gaze to land on Bakugou again. He was striding back into the room, shaking his head and he buttoned his black jeans. She thought that his cheeks were a little flushed too, but that could've simply been from coming out of a hot shower. It was almost close to the full moon. She knew that he got feverish the morning of sometimes.

She was definitely not staring at his well-defined chest, the muscles taut and strong, or the white scars that littered his otherwise perfect skin. He wasn't as, well… He wasn't as hairy as she'd thought he would be, but then the only time she had seen a werewolf without clothes was when they were transformed and not anywhere near human-like. Right now, Bakugou was still very much a man.

A half-naked, muscular, surly, handsome man.

"Are you just gonna hide behind my couch all day?" Bakugou demanded.

"I was thinking about it," Uraraka shot back even as she stood up and straightened her clothes.

Bakugou eyed her and stepped into his kitchen to rifle through his fridge. "Any news?"

"No," Uraraka sighed, following him so that she could sit down at his little kitchenette. "I think the fire department knows more than they're telling us, but there's not much we can do."

She shrugged out of her jacket and threw it over the back of the chair. He set a goblet in front of her and poured her a dark red wine that looked like blood. If he had been a vampire, she might've questioned it, but contrary to popular belief, werewolves didn't have a taste for blood unless they were transformed. For himself, he snagged a beer and popped the cap off using his nails. To have that kind of physical strength…

"Sorry again, I should've been paying more attention," Uraraka said, idly swirling her finger around the rim of the glass. "I've been so distracted." Her eyes flickered to his and he held her gaze. She couldn't tell what he was thinking, but he was tenser than normal. It was easier to read his body language without clothes to hide him, not to mention the way his tail was flicking irritably. "Did you… Do you need me to find somewhere else to stay?"

"Because you walked in on me?" Bakugou questioned.

"No, because…" Uraraka bit her lip. "You know, the full moon is in two nights."

Bakugou took a long drag of his beer. "You can stay."

"I don't want to-"

"It's not an inconvenience," Bakugou interrupted her, calmer than she'd anticipated. There was surprisingly no heat in his voice, but there was a firm edge to it that left no room for arguing. "I won't be here. I go somewhere...safer for transformations - more secluded - outside of the city."

Uraraka sipped on the wine and frowned. It was delicious, but her mind was elsewhere. "If my place hadn't turned into a barbeque, I could make some wolfsbane for you."

"I hate the hangover that comes the morning after," Bakugou told her. "I always feel foggy for a day or two."

"Don't like being docile, do you?" Uraraka teased lightly, trying to force the dark cloud out of her head. If she focused on it, she'd never get out. Better to be proactive.

Bakugou snorted. "I'm a wolf, not a puppy."

To hell if he wasn't right about that. At any other moment, Uraraka might've teased him about being cute, even reach out to scratch him behind the ears, but the room still felt charged with a strange energy that she couldn't shake. Maybe it had to do with the fact that he still hadn't put a damn shirt on. It was cold outside, but the apartment felt uncomfortably warm. Was everything going to go up in flames? If one thing in her life could not be complicated, that would be great.


	4. Confrontation

**Notes:** Is this...a plot? I don't know. I'm trying my best here (well, my half-assed best, lezbeehonest). I held off on some tags to add to the mystery, which is probably stupid, but here I am doing it anyway. This might not be as focused on Kacchako, but don't worry. The next few chapters are gonna be intense and full of sweet tension and terrible angst.

* * *

 **Day 3: Confrontation**

* * *

Bakugou was gone for almost entirely the next day. Beside his job, which Uraraka had forgotten to ask about, he spent a few hours preparing for the full moon. He explained to her that his parents had a cabin in the countryside where he could safely transform. Not every werewolf was as fortunate, which clearly weighed on him, but she hadn't pressed the matter. They didn't talk about how he would have to muzzle and chain himself up before the full moon rose.

The fact that he had done this on his own for years struck her as very cruel. It was such a lonely existence. Did he not trust anyone to be there for him at his most vulnerable or did he not trust himself to not hurt someone when he was at his strongest? Either way, it made her unspeakably sad, but she knew Bakugou wouldn't want her pity.

Even though it was her day off, Uraraka still spent the better part of her morning going over case files. Leafing through pictures and notes weren't good enough though so she snuck out of the apartment to check out two of the crime scenes. The magical residue was long gone by now, a few months old, but it still felt like she was doing something more than looking at pictures taken in poor lighting. She tried to comb through the scenes with a more detailed eye, a glowing orb following her so every last crevice was lit up.

Nothing came up, which was incredibly frustrating. Whoever committed these murders was very skilled at both staging crime scenes and destroying evidence. Even the murder weapon had been rendered to ash. She'd found first evidence of it at the crime scene from two months ago. With the actual weapon destroyed beyond recognition, they were left to guess at what it was. That was why the first detectives on the case had thought so easily the murderer was a werewolf.

None of them had listened to her at first when she'd insisted that wasn't the case. She found trace evidence of blood not belonging to the victim with a spell. The killer had tried to destroy it with fire, but had missed a spot. That break had blown the case wide open, but now they were at a standstill again. Some still wanted to believe the monsters they hated were guilty instead of accepting the folk they spent their daily lives with were capable of horrors too.

Buzzing from Uraraka's back pocket dragged her out of her troubled thoughts. She stood up from her crouched position and pulled her cell out, answering it without looking. "Detective Uraraka."

"Hey, where you at?" came Bakugou's gruff voice.

Uraraka's lips tilted upwards into a smile. "Checking up on me? Some people might call this behavior controlling."

"Fine, die for all I care."

Once she stepped out of the warehouse, she snapped her fingers and the orb of light winked out of existence. The sun was still out, although it would set in a few hours. "I couldn't get the case out of my mind so I went to check out the last two crime scenes."

"On your own?"

"Yeah, it was just an idea."

"Shit, Uraraka, did you at least let Deku know?"

"Of course I did. We agreed upon check-ins every twenty minutes." Uraraka rolled her eyes. Maybe some people would be annoyed with his behavior, but she knew it meant he cared. He simply didn't want to admit it.

Truth be told, she was kind of grateful for it. While she was trying to pretend like everything was fine, seeing her apartment going up in flames had shaken her up. She'd been dealing with her insurance company and had bought some clothes to hold her over, but things were a mess. She had Tsu checking up on her consistently to see how she was holding up. Iida was also vigilant in checking on her. He was, of course, concerned about her mental health.

Maybe she'd spend the night with Tsu tomorrow. Bakugou was antsy about her being alone. His place was nice and not known, but it wasn't totally secure. It would be easier for Uraraka to blend in the lower levels where Tsu lived. The tea shop her parents' owned was the first place that Uraraka had felt comfortable in upon moving to the city. She had been alone and unused to loud mess that the city was compared to the quiet countryside. The only other witches and consistent magic users that she'd come across (that she hadn't arrested) had been in that shop.

"I think I'm gonna get something to eat and then head back to the apartment," Uraraka said as she walked down the street to the nearest bus stop. She should really invest in a car, but she didn't see the point when there was so much public transportation. Plus, she could charm a broom to fly. Sometimes she liked to embrace the goofy stereotypes. "You want me to get you anything?"

There was a pause on the other end until Bakugou replied, "Depends on what you're getting."

"That spot across the street from your place sound okay?"

Bakugou sighed, sounding positively tired. How much energy was drained from him during the days before the full moon? To be honest, she didn't know a ton about werewolves, if only because he wasn't one to answer questions and she didn't want to annoy him. Granted, he didn't know a lot about magic either and actively avoided it outside of her and a few others. It made him wary, but she couldn't tell if it was simply because he didn't know much about it or something had happened to cause him to have an aversion to it.

"Are you okay?" Uraraka tentatively asked.

"I'm fine," Bakugou half-heartedly snapped. She knew better than to take it to heart. "I don't need anything. My diet is kind of messed up right now. You don't want to know."

"You're not eating people, are you?" Uraraka teased.

"I swear to all the gods–"

"Stop worrying that you'll scare me," Uraraka interrupted. She peered at the bus times and fought the urge to groan. Waiting ten minutes wasn't so bad as long as she didn't tell Bakugou what neighborhood she was in. He'd have a conniption.

As expected, Bakugou scoffed. "I'm not worrying over that."

"Then stop acting like–"

"Oh, hi! Are you a police officer?"

Uraraka nearly jumped out of her skin at the girly voice in her ear. She pressed a hand against the phone receiver and spun around to find a young woman gazing at her with wide, yellow eyes. She was wearing an excited smile, her sharp canines showing. At first, Uraraka thought the woman was a werewolf, but she didn't have the telltale ears or the fluffy tail. A vampire maybe? Her cheeks were flushed, almost like she was feverish, but that could mean she had fed recently. The thought was chilling.

"Um, yes, I'm a detective," Uraraka responded carefully. She lowered her hand from the phone, pulling it away from her head a little. Her jacket sleeves were long enough to hide her wand sliding into the palm of her hand. She could do wandless magic, but she was stronger with something to help concentrate it. "Can I help you?"

The young woman's face lit up, but her eyes were dazed, like she was in a dream or had maybe taken something. She didn't think anyone on a concoction would willingly engage with the police. "Oh, I know you! You're that witch detective!" Before Uraraka could question how she knew that, seeing as how she'd been smart enough to not bring her hat or potions bag, the woman added, "I saw your picture in the newspapers with your partner. He's an elf, isn't it? So strange, an elf and a witch in the police. Isn't it strange?"

"It's a bit...unusual, I suppose," Uraraka admitted.

"I think it's fascinating," the woman continued avidly in a world of her own. "I bet you're _hated_. A witch cop? It seems so obvious to me, but so many people don't trust magic. Which is silly! We live in a world of magic!"

To be honest, Uraraka couldn't deny that she was wrong. When she'd first transferred to the police department in the city, many of her colleagues had been very hesitant to trust her. They'd startled when she first started using magic at work. It couldn't be helped. Magic was a part of her, like an extension of her soul. "It's not so bad," she started, but no, that wasn't quite right. It wasn't bad, but she still caught the sideways looks thrown her way. She was lucky to have a captain that not only trusted and believed in her, but thought using magic was progressive.

"And an elf cop! What a weird boy!" the young woman exclaimed. "Doesn't he know that elves are supposed to be better than everyone?" She laughed a little hysterically, which only put Uraraka even more on edge. While she wouldn't be the first person to be curious about Deku's position in the police department, there was something off about her. When she stepped closer into Uraraka's space, she took an involuntary step back, but the young woman didn't seem to notice. "I thought elves were all high and mighty. He seems so humble and polite though. It's cute. I bet he's hated even more than you. Why, the only ones more hated would be werewolves, huh?"

Uraraka's heart froze. She could write this off as a fanatic, but the werewolf comment sounded too pointed. The young woman smiled at her, curling a strand of blonde hair that fell loose from one of her buns, like she was waiting for Uraraka to catch up or say something. The only thing that came to mind was a hex. A honking sound from down the street almost pulled her attention away, but she knew that allowing herself to get distracted for even a second was a mistake. She didn't know why, how, or who she was, but she was dangerous.

"What's your name?" Uraraka asked, trying not to sound like she was a heartbeat away from attacking. Her flight or fight response was struggling to kick in, but she shoved it down. She hadn't gotten to where she was by panicking at the first sign of trouble. "I can tell my partner about you. He's very involved in community outreach work and likes to become friendly with the public."

"I'm just a fan," the young woman chirped as the bus pulled up next to them and came to a stop. "Maybe I'll see you around, Detective Uraraka." She waved and spun on her heels, flouncing down the sidewalk like a young girl. "Have a good day!"

It wasn't until the young woman disappeared around the corner that Uraraka realized she'd never ended her call with Bakugou. She hopped onto the bus, showing her pass, and then sat down in a seat away from others. When she looked at her phone, she saw that she'd missed at least ten texts from Bakugou, Deku, and Iida varying from concerned to pissed. How long had the conversation lasted? She'd stopped talking to him suddenly. Had he heard anything?

Uraraka sent a quick text to Bakugou in hopes of placating him: _Sorry, some weird girl very excited about a witch and elf being on the force stopped to talk to me._

 _Didn't your parents ever teach you not to talk to strangers?_ came Bakugou's response. She could hear the irritation in the words. For once, she had to admit that she deserved it. She should've at least ended the conversation instead of leaving him to panic or frustrating him.

 _How can I ignore one of Deku's adoring fans?_ Uraraka texted back.

Predictably Bakugou took offense to that. _That's revolting._

With him settled, Uraraka sent Iida a text reassuring him that she was fine and there had been a misunderstanding. She called Deku, who picked up right away. Before he could even say anything, Uraraka cut in: "Where are you right now? We need to meet up."

"The Magisterium."

Uraraka wrinkled her nose in distaste. That was the opposite of where she felt like she belonged. It was a place where the upper society rubbed elbows. More specifically, it was the domain of elves. It was where Deku should've been if he had done what was expected of his kind. "Okay, it'll take me a minute to get there. I'm on the opposite side of town."

That immediately caught Deku's concern. "Where are _you_? What happened to you? Kacchan said you suddenly cut off on your call and he could hear you talking, but you wouldn't respond."

"I met someone that was very interested in us," Uraraka said as she sorted through the bus stop map to figure out where she needed to get off. Her broom would've been nice for this kind of fast travel, but she had yet to replace the one she had lost. Proper ones were not cheap and hard to come by in the city. She could call home and have her parents send her old one, but she didn't want to worry them. She hadn't told them about the fire yet. "I either have a lead or a stalker."

"It can be both," Deku warned darkly. She thought of the fire and then the dazed, feverish look in that young woman's unusual yellow eyes. He was probably right, but she didn't want to think about that now. Bakugou was going to be even more on her about going off on her own and, even worse, she knew that Deku would agree with him. If word got wind to Aizawa, she was going to be in a bind and not the good kind. "Be careful. Did you at least placate Kacchan for the time being?"

"You know I did."

Deku hummed. "That won't last for long. He'll know you lied the second he sees you again. That won't be pretty."

"Don't remind me," Uraraka grumbled. No one could lie to Bakugou without getting called on it. She didn't know if it had to do with him being a werewolf, but it was very inconvenient at times, right now being one of them. She'd deal with the consequences later. Too much was going on to worry about that now.


	5. Storm

**Notes:** This is my favorite chapter so far. It's hella long. The next one is gonna be longer. Listen, I'm just up here camping it up with all the tropes and I'm sticking to it. Sorry for taking so long to upload this. I'm lazy as hell.

* * *

 **Day 4: Storm**

* * *

Going to the Magisterium to meet Deku had been annoying, but Uraraka hadn't complained – much. She'd never had a reason to dislike elves before, but then again, the ones she had known growing up were apparently considered different than ones that lived in cities. Of course there were different types of witches, some of which were stronger than others, and covens were ranked on some level, but they never actively discriminated against each other.

It was different with elves, something she had found out firsthand upon transferring to the city and getting partnered with Deku. High elves lived in cities and held positions of power. Most of them considered a job that required a heavy amount of labor or blue-collared job to be below them. They were highly intelligent, creative, and arrogant beings. They were also one of the few races outside of witches capable of magic without heavy drawbacks. Elven magic was different from the kind she'd grown up with. Whereas it was an innate ability for her, having been born with it, elves had to use objects of power.

In Uraraka's opinion, that made her magic a little more special, but she'd learned not to argue the semantics of magic with elves. Deku warned her about that, but she hadn't listened, being genuinely curious about how other creatures harnessed magic. The history lesson she'd been given had been dizzying and annoying, if only because the elf hadn't truly bothered to explain things and insulted her instead.

This was Deku's world, whether he admitted it or not. He spent a lot of time in hers, more comfortable with it, but she thought he was a little lost too. Raised in both worlds, he wasn't quite sure where he fit in. It had to be why he and Bakugou had become friends – or whatever they were. Bakugou was the same. If they couldn't agree on anything, they could at least both understand what it felt like to have a foot in each world.

"If someone tries to explain magic to me one more time…" Uraraka mumbled under her breath.

"Or why my profession casts shame on elves," Deku added, massaging his temple. "Could you see me as a politician or a lawyer?"

"Not when you don't know how to tie a tie properly," Uraraka joked as she stepped next to his car. He shot her an unamused look but didn't say anything to the contrary, choosing to unlock the doors instead. She gave him a grin and then slipped inside the passenger seat.

Apparently Deku had gone to the Magisterium to ask some very delicate questions. She didn't think that he'd got the answers he wanted, judging from the surly look on his normally bright face. It made sense he had originally gone without her. He could get further without a witch holding him back. It was what it was. The suit he wore was much nicer than the clothes he wore on the clock, but she'd had to fix his tie for him upon meeting him. She should enchant a tie for him. Then he wouldn't have to worry about it.

While there, she had called Kaminari back at the station and given him the description of the young woman that had accosted her at the bus stop. As far as she knew, he was still sorting through photographs, both in their database and other online websites. He was supposed to call her if he got a hit, but Deku was doubtful they would. Anyone that would willingly pop in on a detective like that probably didn't have a record that they knew of. Uraraka could believe that. She'd come out of nowhere, like a ghost.

Maybe she _had_ been a ghost or something like it. A ghoul? Vampire still might've fit with those teeth. It wasn't like it was polite to ask things like that though. Even Deku, who had spent years researching and compiling data on other magical creatures, was careful about it.

They were halfway on their way back to Bakugou's when Deku got a call. He dug his phone out of his jacket pocket and then furrowed his brow when he saw the caller ID. "Huh."

"Who is it?" Uraraka asked curiously, even though it was a bit rude.

"Kirishima," Deku replied without thinking, "but we talked earlier today already. I thought he was busy tonight with…" His face went pale. "Oh no." She didn't know why he'd changed suddenly, but he answered the call and pressed the cell to his ear. "Are you-?"

He didn't get the chance to finish before he jerked the phone away from his head and grimaced in pain. She didn't have to ask what that was about, not when she could hear the loud noises blasting on the other end of the phone despite it not being on speaker. She couldn't tell exactly what was going on, but it sounded like there were screams, things breaking, and someone very loudly cursing. It sounded like Bakugou.

The grimace still on his face, Deku tentatively put the cell back to his ear and demanded in a loud voice, "What's going on?" He waited with baited breath as he was given his answer, Kirishima's muffled voice heard through the speaker. Whatever it was made Deku look as if he'd had all the energy drained out of him by a spell, but he nodded his head as a determined expression appeared on his face. "Okay, give us ten minutes. We were heading that way already. Yeah, I've got Uraraka with me."

He hung up the phone and dropped it in his console. There was a very decisive nature about the way he gripped the steering wheel with both hands and pressed down further on the gas so that they were going over the speed limit. It was enough of a change to make Uraraka hold onto the car door. Deku wasn't one to speed, so whatever was going on had to be serious.

"So, not to be nosy or anything, but what was that about?" Uraraka asked.

Deku sighed. "Kacchan got into a bar fight." She blinked in surprise. He hadn't looked like he had the energy for one this morning when he'd been getting ready to leave the apartment. "I thought they were just going to hang out at home, but he wanted to go out. It was a bad idea. He's so temperamental the night before the full moon. It's like he's always looking for a fight. Someone said something that pissed him off and he just…"

"It kind of sounded like it was still going on?"

"I can drop you off if-"

"Hell no." Uraraka pointed ahead of them. "Punch it."

Eight minutes later, they were pulling up outside of the bar. Somehow, the cops hadn't been called yet (well, not counting them), but perhaps that had to do with what kind of establishment it was. Uraraka peered at the outside of the bar nervously as she got out of the car. It wasn't that it was a rough and tumble kind of place so much as the fact that it was very obviously against magic users that put her on edge. Dark clouds swirled over them, causing an even more eerie effect as the fight could be heard from the inside.

"Sure you don't want to stay outside?" Deku offered one last time.

Uraraka put her hands on her hips. "Because elves are known for getting into bare-fisted bar brawls."

"They are when they grew up with Kacchan," Deku quipped before shoving the door open. She followed him inside and immediately had to duck to avoid getting hit by a glass, which shattered on the wall behind her. After gawking at the alcohol stain, she turned around to face the rest of the bar.

It was a disaster.

The first thing that Uraraka noticed was that it was impossible to tell who had started it. The room was dimly lit to begin with, reminding her of Tsu's tea shop, but there was no smoke from burning incense or flames. Half of the tables and chairs had been trashed, either having been fallen upon or used as a weapon. It was utter mayhem. People were attacking each other seemingly without cause and at random simply to fight. She lost Deku in the crowd immediately, leaving her quite open.

"Take it back, you fucking bastard!" a familiar voice roared from somewhere in the room.

Uraraka's eyes snapped in the direction of the shout and landed on Bakugou, who had a hold of what looked like another werewolf. She watched in horror as he gripped the man's hair and slammed his head into the bar before taking a glass and smashing it across his face. Truth be told, while she had known that he was prone to fighting and had a vicious temper on him, she'd never seen him act so violent before. There was blood on his face and hands, neither of which she was entirely sure was all his own.

"Yer gonna get yerself killed," the other werewolf slurred, somehow still standing. Werewolves had a much higher pain tolerance than most others. They had to be capable of enduring ridiculous levels of pain in order to survive the transformation once a month. If that had happened to anyone else, save for maybe an orc or a few others, they would have been knocked out cold. She knew that she certainly couldn't take a hit like that hence why she focused so much on defensive spells. Dealing with drunk magical creatures could get messy. "Don't ye know better than to be hanging around an elf? Or even worse - messing around with a magic whore like that?"

Uraraka blinked, standing still when she knew that she should be moving. No one seemed to have noticed her yet though. She was so small. It was easy for her to hide against the wall. The other werewolf's words bounced around in her head though. He was obviously referring to Deku, but the other person… Magic whore? Was he talking about her? Was that how all of this had started?

"Call her that one more time and I swear I will fucking gut you with my bare hands," Bakugou snarled, holding out his hands palms up. His fingers were curled as if they were claws. "I don't need it to be the full moon."

So caught up in his rage toward the werewolf, Bakugou missed the orc creeping up on him from behind. Her first thought was to look around for Kirishima, who always had his back, but no, he was currently choking someone out to stop them from strangling someone else. Somehow he had pulled into an entirely different fight. Hadn't he said this had started because someone had said something to piss Bakugou off? How had it devolved into this? Uraraka went to call out Bakugou's name to warn him, but then something shiny gleamed in the light.

There wasn't time to warn him about the butcher's knife about to be stabbed into his back. Uraraka reacted out of pure instinct, throwing out an arm and screaming, "Stop!"

She didn't have her wand in her hand, but it didn't matter, not as magic roared to life inside of her and burst from her fingertips. Lightning shot through the air, a thunderous crack following it so loud that half the bar dropped to the ground. Lights exploded and the floor and ceiling sizzled where the lightning hit. Her magical electricity struck the knife and passed through the metal to hit the would-be attacker. When men around her pulled themselves up to attack her, she sliced her other hand in front of her so that a powerful gust of wind exploded from her. It sent the men flying back into the crowd. Anyone else that thought to attack her was stopped cold by the electricity crackling in the air around her, lightning at her fingertips.

Using such powerful wandless magic should've left her exhausted, but instead she felt absolutely invigorated. It was intoxicating. She wanted to keep going. She swept her gaze around the suddenly silent and still room, daring anyone to make a move, but no one did. With her magic pulsing inside of her, she was a walking storm, ready to strike down anyone that got in her way.

"Oi!" the bartender shouted as he pulled himself up from behind the bar. He was an ugly, little leprechaun, all teeth and straggly red hair. "Didn't you read the sign? No magic allowed in here!"

Annoyed almost enough to cast another spell but not one to push the line, Uraraka fished her ID out of her pocket and held it out in front of her. "My sign trumps yours." A few of the bar customers reared back from her once they realized she was the police. The ones that had tried to attack her actually scrambled away, fleeing out the back door, even though she'd had no intentions of arresting them. "Now can you please just stop fighting?"

"You can't tell us what to do!" someone yelled from the crowd.

Uraraka pinched bridge of her nose. "I'm not trying to do that. I don't care what you do after I leave. It's my day off and I'd much rather have a drink than deal with this stupid fighting." She was tired. All she wanted to do was curl up on the couch and bitch about how much she hated elves telling her how magic worked. Bakugou would find that amusing. He always thought it was funny when she had to deal with political and class stuff. Through the crowd, she connected eyes with Bakugou, whose whole body was trembling as he panted. "Can we leave - please?"

"Yer leash is tuggin' on ya," the second werewolf cackled.

With a snap of her fingers, lightning crackled around her and shot at the werewolf, missing him by a hair and striking the bar, singing a hole in the wood. It wa close enough for the static to actually make his hair stand on end. "I'm not a leash." Her face softened as she connected eyes with Bakugou. "I'm a friend."

There was something off about Bakugou's face - besides the cut on his nose that was oozing blood down the side of his face - that made Uraraka's heart skip a beat. For a moment, he almost looked...sad. It was gone in a flash before she could analyze it any further. When she dropped her hand at her side, it was as if she'd pulled onto a string and Bakugou started towards her. Elsewhere in the crowd, Deku was helping Kirishima push his way through to the front door, although the help might've been worthless. As an orc, Kirishima was much more solid than Deku, who had the typical muscular but lithe elf build.

"What are you doing here?" Bakugou growled when he was standing right in front of her.

"Kirishima called," Uraraka told him. "You can't afford to get locked up the night before a full moon."

Bakugou sneered, his teeth bloody. She prayed it was his blood for once. "Oh we can't have that. Then everyone will know what kind of ruffians you run around with."

He was drunk and injured and potentially half out of his mind with the moon being so close to full. She'd read that the moon could affect werewolves even outside of it being full. He shouldn't have gone out. He was overly aggressive and emotional, which were two very bad combinations.

Uraraka sighed. "I was worried about you." She waved a hand at Deku, who smiled sheepishly with Kirishima's arm over his shoulders. "We both were."

While he scoffed and turned away from Deku, Kirishima added, "I had to call them before, you know, the cops were called. You would've been locked up, bro."

Even though Bakugou knew that Kirishima was right, he didn't respond, so Uraraka held out a hand. "Can we just go home?" He stared at her hand like it was cursed. Maybe he thought that she had a spell building up that would subdue him somehow. He was so paranoid about magic sometimes that she didn't know what to do with him. Magic was a part of her being, her soul. She couldn't imagine her life without it. "Please?"

"You're so fucking relentless," Bakugou snapped before taking her hand and dragging her out of the bar. She yelped, but didn't have any time to fight him. It was only when the cold air hit him did he stop and she nearly smacked into his back. "Can you get Kirishima home, Deku?"

"Yes, yes," Deku sighed. " ' _Wow, thanks for keeping me from getting jailed, Deku.'_ Oh, you're welcome, Kacchan!"

Bakugou shot him a lazy glare. "Don't push your luck."

Using his free hand, Deku hand a hand to his ear in a gesture that said he would call her. Uraraka nodded her head and said nothing as Bakugou started walking down the street, pulling her along with him. The tension in the air was still thick around him to the point that it was shocking that she didn't choke on it. She could smell the alcohol on him, although probably because he'd been splashed with it a few times in the fight, and sweat.

He didn't let go of her hand until they were around the corner and then he ripped his hand away like she had been the one holding onto him. He shoved his hands into his pockets and hunkered over. The act was more aggressive than she anticipated, which irritated her. She had only been trying to help. It wasn't her fault that he'd jumped to start a fight that could've got him thrown in jail, put in the hospital, or even cost him his life. The next time she wouldn't do anything to help and then he could do whatever he wanted.

However, when she looked over at him, she saw that his ears were drawn back and his tail was stiff and pressed against the back of his legs. That wasn't a sign of aggression. He was angry, yes, but he was more humiliated than anything, which meant that his anger was probably directed at himself. Lightning lit the sky above them, a web in the dark clouds, and thunder rumbled deep enough like fireworks to cause her heart to stutter. Bakugou glanced at the sky, his ears flickering. It wasn't her doing. She wasn't quite sure where that had come from.

Taking a deep breath, fully prepared not to take his shit, Uraraka asked, "What was the point of all that?"

"I had to blow off some steam," Bakugou grumbled, not looking at her. Rain slowly began to fall, large droplets of water splattering whenever they hit her or the ground. She wished that she had her hat, but she left it at Bakugou's for safe keeping. Advertising that she was a witch wasn't always a good idea. She'd done that and more at the bar. When she paid more attention to the rain than him, he huffed and continued, "It's just this night. I've got so much pent up energy and aggression and I just- I don't know what to do with it. Fucking sucks."

"Can't you take something for it?" Uraraka didn't want to press too much, but she was curious. Bakugou usually took pride in not falling into werewolf stereotypes, but starting a bar fight because of an insult after a few drinks pretty much fit the description to a t.

"Sure, I can knock myself out with some potions, but I hate that shit." Bakugou was stubborn and prideful if nothing else. She'd known that since the first day she met him. The coiled tension built up inside of him was rolling off him in waves. If she touched him, would she feel the heat of his body through his long-sleeve shirt? "It's just this night. I'm stuck feeling like this - like a monster - and there's shit I can do about it except find ways to get rid of it."

Uraraka frowned thoughtfully. "If you have to blow off some steam because of the moon, surely there's another way, something healthier and less dangerous."

When Bakugou turned to face her, the air caught in her throat and she stopped breathing. His pupils were blown wide, so dark that she could barely see the red of his irises. The tension that she had almost choked on was so heavy that it hit her like a wall and she stopped moving. His lips pulled into a sneer, his canines shining in the lightning. There was something so animalistic about the expression, like he might maul her at any second - go for the jugular and spill her blood - but she knew he wouldn't.

However, when Bakugou drawled in a raspy voice, "Is that an offer?" her heart jumped into her throat.

She barely had time to react - opening her mouth but no words coming out - before Bakugou stepped into her space and pinned her against the brick wall. Sometimes she forgot how imposing he could be when he wanted. She'd seen him the day before (the muscles, the strength, the vitality), but it was nothing compared to this raw, barely contained power. He could take her if he wanted. She could fight him off with magic, but he was so strong and massive. He towered over her, his body shielding her from the rain as he pressed a forearm against the wall over her head and gripped her hip with the other.

His touch burned. She couldn't tell if it was real or not. It obviously wasn't the first time he'd touched her, but he hadn't got this close to her since the evening her apartment burned down. He'd kept a careful distance from her since then, as if he'd drawn a line between them that he refused to cross. She'd replayed him laying his hand on her ankle about twenty times that night, wondering if maybe she'd looked into it too much.

This was different. His fingers curled into her skin, blunt nails digging into her with intent. If she had been left wondering about what the other day meant, there was no mistaking it now. Lightning flashed again, showing his face for a brief moment so they could stare each other in the eyes. The rain was pouring in earnest, dropping from his sharp jaw and causing his hair to stick on his head, but it didn't make him look any less dangerous - or handsome.

His hard body pressed against hers, Uraraka found it difficult to breathe, her heart beating like a drum in her chest. She swore she could hear his as well. She tentatively pressed a hand against his chest over his heart. Hot again, but she could feel it, his heart beating a thousand miles per hour. His hand lifted from her hip to face, half cupping it as he rubbed his pinky and index fingers up and down her neck until he let them rest on her pulse. He could take her. He had the control. He could take her.

"Uraraka," he breathed, hot and heavy.

And she'd let him.

Bakugou pulled away from her in a jerky manner. The loss of contact was so sudden that the cold air and rain washed over her and made her shiver. He stared at her, his red eyes still blistering with desire, and ran his fingers through his wet hair, taking shaky breaths. She didn't know what to do, befuddled and huddled against the wall, blinking at him with innocent brown eyes.

"Shit, fuck, I'm-" Bakugou turned from her. "Fuck!"

"It's okay," Uraraka said, gently reaching out for him. "You didn't-"

Bakugou jerked out of her reach and she snatched her hand back. He didn't want her to touch him. His eyes flickered back to her hand and then her face, which warmed instantly. Oh, no, he definitely wanted her to touch him. He just didn't think it was a good idea. He'd held himself back - he'd refrained from doing anything. It would've been so easy. She could tell how much he wanted to go back, but he kept his distance from her.

"It's this fucking night," Bakugou ground out furiously. "Stupid fucking urges. Doesn't excuse me for acting like some sort of animal who can just-" He tugged at his hair, making her anxious that he'd pull it out. "I'll take something. When we get to my place, I'll take something."

The moon. It had to be the moon. Almost full, this was the closest he would be to being a wolf in a man's body. The fighting, the tension, even the sexual desire… It wasn't him. Uraraka suddenly felt overwhelmed with shame. She knew that he felt guilty for pushing himself on her, but she had been the one to nearly take advantage of him.

"You don't have to do that, Bakugou," she told him. "I trust you."

Bakugou didn't respond. He merely shook his head as if to say, _I don't._

Knowing that she had to be the first one to make a move, Uraraka moved away from the wall and started walking. His place was only another two blocks. She could make it there without feeling like she was going to explode. Maybe. The storm swirling inside of her was so strong now that she thought lightning or fire might flicker from her fingertips. It was just the cycle of the moon. It was just the lycanthropy. He didn't actually want her. She had to get him back to his place - get him to his safe haven - and then things would be okay.

"If you-" She heard Bakugou cut himself off, grinding his teeth as he followed her. "If you don't feel comfortable, I understand. I can call Deku to pick you up or call you a cab to take you to Asui's-"

"You're not going to hurt me." Uraraka stepped into his apartment building and took off her coat, shaking the rain from it. The man at the front desk glanced at them before looking away as if to give them privacy. This time, when Bakugou followed her, his tail really was tucked between his legs. The elevator ride was thick with tension and awkwardness, but she ignored it. She wasn't going to force him to do this alone too. "But if you would feel more comfortable if I go somewhere else, I will."

"No, I don't-" The elevator doors opened. He hesitated, but then he walked to his apartment next to her, although he made sure to keep space in between them. "I don't want you to leave. I'll take something. I won't bother you."

Uraraka smiled up at him. "Besides, I could take you."

Even though she knew he didn't feel it right now, Bakugou smirked at her. "I wouldn't be so sure about that. You let me pin you easily."

"It wasn't so bad," Uraraka replied with a shrug of her shoulders.

The smirk fell from Bakugou's face and his gaze hardened as he jammed his key in his doorknob. "You shouldn't joke about shit like that until I'm safe."

"You're safe," Uraraka insisted when he pushed the door open. He let her step inside first and shut the door behind himself. As she hung up her coat, he put his keys up and immediately went to his pantry to rummage through it in order to find whatever concoctions he had for this time of the month. Judging from the way he blew on the jar and wrinkled his nose, it had been left undisturbed for a while. He really didn't like taking potions. For someone who seemed to want her around, he sure didn't like magic.

Popping the cap open, Bakugou pinched his nose and gulped the concoction down impressively fast. His entire body shuddered, from the taste or the magic, she wasn't sure. He slammed the empty jar on the counter and rubbed a hand over his face. "You take the bedroom tonight. I'll sleep on the couch."

"I can't do that," Uraraka said worriedly. "You need as much rest as you can get before tomorrow night."

His eyes dropped down to look over her, settling very obviously on her soaked white shirt and the way it stuck to her skin. Her face heated up all over again. "The door locks from the inside. It's pretty flimsy, but I'll sleep easier out here, trust me."

Uraraka didn't fight him on it. Already he seemed calmer - more docile - but if it made him feel better, she would do it. Whatever made him more comfortable. She was half in mind to ask if her leaving would be for the better, but him admitting that he didn't want her to leave was a huge deal for him. She wouldn't ignore that. Besides, the bed looked very tempting. She'd expected him to sleep on a hard mattress, but it looked downright plush. His couch was fine, but she did miss a bed.

"Okay." She pulled a change of clothes out of her bag. "I'm gonna take a shower and then go to bed." He didn't respond verbally, just nodded his head. "Goodnight."

The moment Uraraka shut the door, she took a deep breath and sagged against the door. She startled when the door bumped a little, but then sighed when she heard steady breathing on the other end. Bakugou must have pressed his forehead against it. The urge to open the door and pull him inside swelled inside of her, but she tamped it down. He didn't want that. He didn't need that. The last thing he needed right now was someone indulging him in something that he didn't fully want or had control over. It just hurt her to think that he went through this alone, day in and day out. Did he talk to anyone about it? Did any werewolf?

There was nothing she could do though. The shower was hot and the bed was cozy, but Uraraka felt awfully cold and alone as she laid there. Her magic pulsed deep inside of her, gentle and comforting and utterly worthless on this rainy night. Tomorrow they would go their separate ways - her back to the department to work on the murder investigation and him to his hideout to transform without endangering others - and things would go back to normal.

She knew it wouldn't though. Tomorrow was the full moon and the clock was ticking too fast for either of them to control. It was going to be a rough night for them both. Another body was coming and she could only hope that it would be the last. She had to protect someone if not him.


	6. Hero

**Notes:** Originally, this was supposed be have another scene in it, but by the time I got to it, well, I was sitting on over 6k. I figured I'd leave it on a cliffhanger instead. The next prompt works for the scene anyway and it's gonna be big too. Also, you can one-hundred percent blame Kela on the Kacchako discord for this. I had to add a tag for this chapter and it's the first time I've written something like this in a fic instead of after the fact. For the record, it made me very weepy to write this.

* * *

 **Day 5: Hero**

* * *

By the time Uraraka woke up and crawled out of Bakugou's absurdly warm and cozy bed, he was gone. She had expected it, but that still didn't hurt any less. After last night, she knew that he would still be smarting from the humiliation and wouldn't want to face her. He'd taken his supplies for the day and what he would need to patch himself up tomorrow and left without so much as a goodbye.

A part of her had hoped he might leave her a note of some kind, but no, he was gone, more of a ghost than a werewolf. Uraraka piddled around the apartment getting ready, stewing over a cup of hot tea as the sun rose. When she looked at the dregs, she didn't find any answers, only more questions. She'd never been good at tea readings, but she had hoped that they might provide her with some comfort.

So far, every time she consulted them about this case, all she'd gotten were grim warnings. As if she didn't know that already. What a useless bit of magic.

Work was tense and uncomfortable for an assortment of reasons, but they all boiled down to one thing: tonight was a full moon. When she arrived, Deku was already there, looking rumpled as if he'd slept in his clothes or thrown them on haphazardly before rushing out the door. Either way, he was leaning back in his chair chugging a cup of coffee. Before she could say anything, he pointed at the cup on her desk without even stopping. Ah, what a thoughtful partner. She'd truly gotten lucky with him.

"Did you get Kirishima home alright?" Uraraka asked as she draped her jacket over the back of her chair.

Deku set the cup down somewhat hard and cleared his throat. "Pardon?"

"I asked if you got Kirishima home alright," Uraraka repeated. "He somehow looked in worse shape than Bakugou, who started the whole mess."

"Ah, right, of course." Deku rubbed the bottom of his face. "Yeah, he was fine. It was mostly other people's blood." He frowned in thought as he dropped his hand. "Not that that's much better, but besides some bruises and a few cuts from a broken beer bottle, he was okay. Orcs have fairly thick skin."

Uraraka hummed as she set to getting her desk in order. There wasn't much else they could do but wait. They had no new evidence, but both of them knew another body would appear tonight. One was always found before the full moon waned and the sun rose. They'd get their evidence then. It angered Uraraka, knowing that someone had to die for them to catch the person, but as much as she repeatedly poured over everything, she couldn't find anything new.

They'd found no connections between the victims. Not only were they of multiple genders, but two of them had been simple humans while the rest varied in creatures. They lived in different parts of town, some single and some with families, varying ages and socioeconomics, some so clean they didn't have a parking ticket and others with multiple crimes under their belt. There were no dark secrets that linked them. The fact that they were killed at random by the same person seemed to be the only thing linking them.

"How was Kacchan?" Deku asked gently.

Just hearing Deku's nickname for Bakugou forcefully dragged Uraraka out of her irritated thoughts on the case. It wasn't a distraction. She knew that Deku had been focusing on this just as much as her, but anything to break the circle they found themselves in was a welcomed fresh of breath air.

Or it would've been if Uraraka's thoughts on Bakugou weren't stormy as well.

Sighing, Uraraka propped an elbow on the table and put her head in her hand. "I didn't know he got so...worked up before the full moon. I thought he'd be tired."

"That's more after," Deku said. "Did he…?"

He tapped his fingers on his desk, like he was trying to drum up the right way to word his question. She had a feeling what he wanted to ask but was too polite to say it outright. At the end of the day, he knew what Bakugou was like more than she did. She wondered if he'd ever been around for one of his transformations or if he'd always done it by himself since he was a kid. Had he been bitten or had his parents been werewolves as well? She'd never asked. Why hadn't she asked?

"How was he?" Deku settled on asking.

 _Horny,_ was the first thing that popped into Uraraka's mind.

"Angry," was what she said out loud. "He felt like he couldn't control himself."

Deku nodded, but his eyes were distant as he stared at the clock across the bullpen, like he was back in a memory. What had it been like for the two of them growing up? An elf and a werewolf, both stuck in two worlds where neither of them fully belonged. Both of them insisted it was no big deal, but it had to have some sort of effect on the way they viewed the world. She knew that growing up where she had certainly made her more perceptive but also open to other creatures and magic.

"Is he like that before every full moon?" Uraraka blurted out, unable to stop her curiosity. "I've never been around him during this time of the month, so I didn't know what to be prepared for."

Snapping his gaze back to her, Deku considered her a moment before asking, "Full moons are special for witches too, aren't they?"

"For many, yes," Uraraka answered. Upon first being partnered with Deku, she had found that one of his biggest quirks was his habit of asking questions. He had been fascinated by the fact that she was a proper witch and not just a half-assed back alley one. "Most of us are more powerful during full moons. Some potions can only be brewed on full moons, some enchantments and spells stronger, crystals charged. For some witches, their magic is dependent on the moon's cycles."

"You sound very revenant of it," Deku said thoughtfully. Uraraka blinked. She'd never thought of it that way, but well, when he put it that way… Yes, the moon was special. It had an effect on so much in the world. Whenever she looked up at the moon, she always found a sense of comfort in it. "For Kacchan, it's a nightmare. It's a constant reminder of everything he is – and everything he isn't. It's a reminder that he's not fully in control. You know how much he likes to be in control of things."

Uraraka lowered her gaze to her desk. "It's a chain."

"One that he'll never be fully rid of until death," Deku confirmed. "It doesn't help that werewolves are hated for things entirely out of their control and most stereotypes are fabricated misconceptions." He ran a finger around the lid of his coffee cup. "I know it doesn't seem like it, but you could stop doing magic. It might feel like it's in your blood, but using magic is a conscious decision that you make. And I…" He smiled, but it wasn't a happy one. He'd obviously spent a lot of time thinking about this. "I chose to become a cop. I knew what that would make me – I knew what other elves and magical creatures and even humans would think of me – but I did it anyway. We've made our beds. He didn't."

She could hear the sadness in Deku's words, read it in the way he held his body, saw it spelled out on his face. It wasn't pity. It was empathy in its purest form. She'd heard that some elves were capable of that sort of magic, but she couldn't be certain that it wasn't just the way Deku was. He had always been the kind of person who could understand others when many people lacked. It was probably why he was friends with people like Bakugou, Iida, and even Todoroki. He got them when no one else could.

"It's gonna be a long ass day," Uraraka sighed, slumping back in her chair.

Deku sat up straight. "It's gonna be an even longer night, you mean."

They did what they could for the rest of their day: pouring over the little evidence they had, taking calls from the tip line, calling up the very few witnesses they had. No one had actually seen the killers or the murders. People had come across the aftermath of the evidence being destroyed. Fire was skilled at eating away at everything. She'd never seen fire strong enough to reduce nearly everything to ash, but there was a first for everything. The only things that remained were the bodies, which was how she knew it was done by magic.

She flipped through an old spellbook that she'd checked out from the library, but so far not even the wildfire charms were a perfect fit. It irritated her. Even Todoroki, who could emit powerful flames, said it wasn't possible for him. Some things, yes, but not everything. What was she missing?

By the time their shift came to an end, neither one of them was closer to finding out who the killer was. The few leads they had were weak at best. No one wanted to admit that an elf was capable of such crimes, especially not the elves themselves. She knew from the look on Deku's face that he was going back to the Magisterium. He could go through doors that were locked to her.

Regardless, a body would show up tonight. Sometimes it happened before the sun set and the moon rose and other times it happened long after. All they could do was keep working off the clock and wait for the call.

Instead of going back to the apartment, Uraraka went to her favorite tea shop. Bakugou couldn't berate her when it meant that she wouldn't be alone. Tsu would be there. While she was known to frequent it, magic was very much alive in the shop. If someone tried to attack her, they would be met with a lot of very angry tea drinkers. It didn't sound very threatening, but the last person who tried to start a fight there over covens had almost had their family cursed for seven generations. Only Uraraka jumping in at the last second had saved them.

"You look exhausted," Tsu noted when Uraraka sat down in a stool up front. She liked to watch the employees make the tea. It was very soothing. Plus, it made it easier for her to chat with Tsu while the little nix worked. When she came here with Deku, they sat at a table. She always managed to find one despite the fact that the shop was packed.

Uraraka tugged on the brim of her hat further down to hide her face in embarrassment. "Don't remind me. I haven't slept well in weeks."

That was somewhat of a lie. She had thought that she wouldn't be able to sleep at all last night, but Bakugou's bed had lulled her into a dreamless sleep. It was a good thing, considering how stressed and haywire her emotions had been recently. The last thing she needed was to have a nightmare and lose control of her magic while Bakugou was emotionally compromised because of the moon.

"Is it uncomfortable at Bakugou's?" Tsu asked. "He's not been forward with you, has he?"

Uraraka blushed as she wrapped her hands around the warm cup of tea. Had he been forward with her last night? Probably. Likely. Very much so. It wasn't like she had told him no or pushed him away though. She still felt guilty over that. Even if she hadn't known the exact details of what the moon's cycle did to him, she should've asked. They were friends. He was letting her crash with him. She should have known and taken better precautions to help him.

"No, he's been really helpful," Uraraka insisted. "It's strange considering how much he refuses help."

"All the werewolves I've known are very stubborn," Tsu mused. Some people might've thought that she was putting labels on them, but Uraraka knew that Tsu did not think much about stereotypes. She simply said whatever came to mind, whether it was insulting or not. "I think Bakugou is extra stubborn though." She glanced around to make sure that she wasn't needed and then leaned forward over the counter. "The full moon is tonight. Do you need somewhere else to stay?"

Uraraka sighed. Bakugou had told her the apartment would be safe with him gone, but she didn't know how she felt about staying there without him. Sure, she slept on his surprisingly comfortable pull-out couch in the living room while he slept in his bedroom, but she never felt alone. She knew if something upset her he would be there. Maybe she wouldn't have the confidence to wake him up for comfort (the idea of Bakugou going out of his way to comfort her was amusing at best, although he had watched that movie with her until she fell asleep), but his presence alone was comforting.

Without him there and knowing what he was going through, sleeping in his apartment just made her sad, especially when she knew she was going to get woken up in the middle of the night.

After sipping on two cups of tea and chatting with Tsu about everything not-related to the full moon or the case she was working on, Uraraka decided to stay with Tsu. First she had to head back to the apartment. She wanted to grab a few things before meeting Tsu at her place when she got off work. It just didn't feel right to stay at Bakugou's without him. All she could think about was how much she wanted him there and wished she could be there for him.

The doorman at his building waved her in without fanfare or questions. The ride up the elevator was silent and slow. It would be good to spend a few hours with Tsu before she was called out to a scene. Her best friend always helped put her mind at ease without even trying. She should try to get some rest, but there was no way that was going to happen, not with how much was resting on her mind. She hoped Deku was trying, but knew that he was most likely working until the last minute.

When she stepped into the apartment, the first thing she did was flick the light on, but nothing happened. Uraraka sighed, running her fingers halfway through her hair and stopping when they got tangled. Of course the light would go out the night Bakugou was gone. It didn't matter. Her clothes were in a bag at the end of the couch. She stepped around the back, but came to a sudden stop when she stepped in something decidedly wet. Furrowing her brow, she took another tentative step, frowning when she heard an unmistakable _squelching_ sound. Lifting a hand, she snapped her fingers together twice to create a glowing orb that would light the room.

And then she screamed.

Uraraka slammed her palms over her mouth to cut herself off mid-scream as she stumbled backward and crashed into the wall, knocking a painting onto the ground. The glass shattered at her feet. Not that it mattered. The entire room was a mess. There were obvious signs of a fight – broken furniture, the television shattered, books strewn everywhere from the knocked over bookcases – but the worst was how much blood was everywhere. It was a mixture of shiny red and black blood, pooled on the ground and spattered on the walls.

Then there was the body, grotesque in its destruction. It looked as if someone had hacked away at it with...with sharp claws. No bite marks, but then the sun hadn't fully yet. No, she couldn't think that.

Pulling her hands away from her mouth, they trembled in front of her as she took a step forward in order to get a closer look. This was her job. She could handle this. She'd seen plenty of dead bodies before – murder victims, accidents, so much death – but it was nothing like this. Nowhere so intimate. The couch was destroyed, covered in blood and tears. She had slept on that couch. She had felt safe in this home.

However, instead of the steely unattached mood that came over her when she analyzed bodies for work, her heart shot into her throat as she looked at the body now. What was truly horrifying about it was how the person was half-transformed in their death. Maybe they had started to turn back to their natural form in order to fight back or had simply lost control during their murder. The long, black, furry limbs sticking out of the person's chest were disgusting in itself, but the fact that the rest of the body was human made it worse.

Oh.

She recognized those limbs. They looked like a spider's legs. Like…

"No, no, no," Uraraka whimpered, horror creeping into her bones. She reached out a hand as if going to check for a pulse, but then pulled away and stood up ramrod straight. This wasn't real. This wasn't happening. She had fallen asleep at her desk at work and this was a nightmare. No, even worse, she was still sleeping in Bakugou's bed and she was having one. Her magic would sputter out of her in dangerous spurts. She had to wake up. This was just a bad dream. It wasn't real.

"Hands where we can see them!"

Uraraka jumped and threw her hands up out of instinct. When she spun around, she found herself staring down the barrel of two department-issued guns and gawked, torn between confusion and terror. If this was a dream, then why did it feel so real but not at the same time? She was standing in Bakugou's destroyed apartment, being held at gunpoint by her colleagues, while behind her laid the bloodied and shredded corpse of one of their friends.

"I'm a cop!" Uraraka called out frantically. "Low Court District! My name is Detective Ochako Uraraka."

The guns didn't waver. "Got any ID on you?"

"Front left pocket." Uraraka kept her hands up. The guns weren't a problem. A flick of her wrist and she could knock them out of their hands with a gust of wind. Not to mention the lightning that she'd wielded last night at the bar. With her emotions running so high, she hadn't needed her wand then either. Her heart was thundering in her tight chest. She could barely breathe. Who knew what she was capable of right now?

After one of the cops fished her ID out of her pocket and checked it, he tossed it back to her and she dropped her hands to catch it against her chest. "You're that witch detective." The contempt in his voice was painfully obvious. Not everyone was a fan of hers. She didn't mind it normally, but right now, a more comforting approach would be nice. She felt shaky and sick, like she might throw up at any second. "What are you doing here? Did you intercept the call on the radio?"

"Wha…? What call?" The body behind her kept pulling at her attention, making her want to look back, but at the same time she couldn't. She was afraid she might break down.

"Someone called in a public disturbance from this residence and said they saw someone fleeing down the alley," the second cop told her as he holstered his service weapon. His eyes flickered to the body behind her, his face turning into a grimace for only a second before it went blank again. The glow of her magic orb cast a strange look on his pale face, making him look positively ghoulish with those dark bags under his eyes. "You never answered my partner: what are you doing here?"

"I…" This wasn't making any sense. What was going on? "I've been staying here for the past few days since my apartment building was arsoned."

The first cop, a blonde-haired young man with haughty blue eyes, quirked an eyebrow. "So you decided to shack it up with a registered werewolf right before the full moon?"

Uraraka flushed, but not in the embarrassed way. That was no way to speak to her after she'd stumbled across the body of one of her friend's. They should be comforting her. She could be in shock. Was she in shock? Oh gods, she was going to get sick. "Bakugou is one of my friends. He has helped me out in a time of need while I looked for a new place to live. I'm–" Anger swelled up inside of her in an attempt to mask the grief. Either way, tears sprung to her eyes. This was not going to be pretty. "I don't have time for this. I think–" _Don't look back._ "I think this crime scene is a part of the case I've been working on. I might've been the target of the arson. I-I–"

When it became clear that she was starting to hyperventilate, the second cop put a hand on her shoulder to steady her and help her calm down, guiding her into the hallway. She felt a sense of peace come over her as she stepped into the light, followed by a wave of drowsiness. Shaking her head, she pushed his hand away. He gave her a grim look and asked, "Where's Bakugou now?"

"He's at his parents' cabin to deal with the transformation," Uraraka answered without thinking. She blinked, not quite sure why she had told them so easily. Her gaze swung to the heavy-lidded cop, focusing on his name tag. Officer Shinsou. Had he used some sort of magic on her when he had touched her? True, she knew that lying would be counterintuitive. They were trying to catch a killer. Her friend's killer. Nausea hit her like a brick and she managed to gasp, "I'm sorry. I–" before bolting back inside to the bathroom and throwing up in the toilet.

Still hunched over, she moved to the sink to splash water on her face and drink some using her hands as a cup. When she turned off the water, she heard the cops talking in the hallway and paused to listen. It was hard to tell, but she could hear them calling in the murder and for a unit to process the scene. It wouldn't be long before the news reached Deku.

One thing did stand out though. They brought up Bakugou's name a few times and then the statement: "The suspect is to be considered dangerous. Force may be necessary to bring him in."

It punched her in the gut. She pushed the door open so loud it smacked the wall with a loud _bang_ and stormed back out of the apartment snarling, "Dangerous? Force? What the hell are you talking about?"

"Ma'am, please remain calm," the blonde-haired cop told her.

Uraraka's blood boiled. "Ma'am? That's Detective Uraraka. I outrank you so you'll speak to me accordingly, Officer Monoma."

"The witness stated that they saw Bakugou fleeing from the scene," Shinsou said in an attempt to placate her. It didn't work, not in the slightest.

"No." Uraraka shook her head firmly. "No, he did not do this. He wouldn't do this. Besides, he's been gone all day. He can't be responsible for this."

"The doorman confirmed that he saw Bakugou return, but never saw him leave," Shinsou continued, undeterred.

"Then he's mistaken," Uraraka shot back. She couldn't believe Bakugou would do something like that, not with the full moon so close to rising. He was much too precautious to be so stupid. If he forgot something, it would never be important enough for him to come back to get it. "Bakugou isn't a threat. He should not be a suspect." Despite not wanting to look, her eyes were pulled back to the body. "Someone is framing him. It's this case. It has to be this case. First the arson and now this?"

"Detective," Shinsou began carefully, "I'm going to have to ask you to leave the scene. You're a witness now. You can't be a part of this."

"Like hell I'm not!" Uraraka exploded. "This is my case! My friend's house! My friend's–" She took a deep breath, the taste of her own vomit making her want to throw up again. Focus. "The cabin. I heard you mention the cabin."

Officer Monoma scoffed. "Well, of course. He's a werewolf suspected of a murder on the night of a full moon. Anyone in the vicinity needs to be made aware of the dangers."

Uraraka blinked, the slow realization of what had happened dawning on her. Maybe her mind was fogged with grief and terror and her nose clogged with the scent of her friend's blood, but she knew a set-up when she saw one. If she hadn't been horrified before, she certainly was now. "You did what?"

"Our first priority is protecting civilians from a potentially dangerous loose werewolf," Monoma pointed out without a hint of shame in his voice. "That means alerting the police department in the area."

Her once boiling blood froze in her veins. "Do you know what you've done?" she demanded, her hands shaking at her side. Magic roared to life inside of her, breathing power into her, but she kept it down. She definitely didn't go for her wand, which seemed to burn the inside of her wrist in her jacket sleeve. "It doesn't matter if he's innocent or not. They'll hunt him down! They'll kill him! He's tied up and vulnerable and they won't care that he's never killed someone in his life!"

Monoma shrugged his shoulders. "That's not our problem to deal with."

"You mean you'll let them do the job for you, don't you?" Uraraka growled.

"Detective, please," Shinsou started, stepping forward again, "you're letting your personal relationship cloud your judgement. You found a mutilated body in his apartment on the night of a full moon. This close to sunset, werewolves still in their human form are prone to aggressive outbursts and violence. You know this."

When he reached out to touch her, Uraraka smacked his hand away. To his credit, he pulled it back, looking at least a little ashamed of himself. "Bakugou didn't do this."

She stomped away, ignoring Officer Monoma's call of, "We still need a statement from you so don't go too far!" She didn't give a damn what he had to say. She was devastated, sick, furious, confused. Her entire world was spinning and they were what? Repeating werewolf tropes to her? They would probably bring up last night's altercation at the bar as a mark against him, but they hadn't seen the way he'd restrained himself too. Bakugou hated being out of control. He'd throw himself out the window before he killed one of his friends in a fit of moon-induced rage.

Right as she pulled her phone out of her pocket, it started to ring. Her heart dropped into the pit of her stomach when she spotted the caller ID, even if she had been about to call him. She answered it without greeting Deku, knowing he was probably ready to burst. "Uraraka, what the hell is going on? I got a call about a body turning up and I figured it had to do with the case, but– The address they gave me – it's Kacchan's. Is it–?"

"It's not him," Uraraka interrupted flatly, slumping back against the wall.

Deku breathed out, but it wasn't a sigh in relief. It was fear of the unknown. "Where are you?"

"I'm here," she replied hollowly. Something was building up inside of her, something slow and dangerous. "I came here after getting tea with Tsu. I didn't think I could stay here without Bakugou and I–" She closed her eyes, willing the tears to stop. She knew that once they started she wouldn't be able to stop them. It hurt. Her throat hurt, constricting as she held the sobs at bay. "I didn't make the call – a witness overheard the murder and called it in – but I found the body. I found him. Deku, it was–"

She couldn't get the words out. Try as she might, she didn't want to say them out loud. Once she did, she could never take them back. She would know this was all real and she wouldn't be able to pretend it was a nightmare.

"Breathe, Uraraka. I need you to breathe. I'm almost there." Deku was doing his best comforting voice. He was so good at it. She'd seen him gently speak with witnesses traumatized by what horrors they'd seen attach themselves to him like he was their own personal savior. It wasn't what he said that was soothing so much as the way he said it. His gift lost part of its edge over the phone though.

"It was Sero," Uraraka choked out. "Sero is dead."

Deku hissed on the other end and let out a pained and emphatic, " _Shit._ "

Uraraka was crying in earnest now. She'd stepped in Sero's blood and made a trail down the hallway without thinking. It would take forever to clean. He'd been half-transformed into his natural state, shocked out of his human form by the blow to his head and scratches across his chest. Now that she was thinking about it, she couldn't stop. All that she'd done to compartmentalize it was broken and the flood of memories was pouring in.

"He must have tried to fight back. There was so much blood. The murderer didn't get the chance to destroy anything – or maybe they didn't want to this time. I think I was meant to find him like that." Uraraka covered her eyes with a hand, but closing them only made the visions of her friend's death that much more vivid. "I don't even know what he was doing here. The apartment was supposed to be empty except for me…" She dropped her hand and opened her eyes. "He came to check on me. Bakugou must have asked him. He was there because of me. Maybe I was the target and the murderer wanted…"

"Stay with me, Uraraka," Deku told her, his voice so distant despite being in her ear.

Panic crawled its way to the forefront of her mind. Too much was happening all at once for her to process. Every time her mind latched onto one thing it would find something else to leap onto and grasp. "They think Bakugou did it. They think Bakugou killed Sero." Her heart was beating so fast that she thought she might have a heart attack. Oh, but she was so young too. "They think Bakugou is a murderer!" Hysteria was trying to take over, but she shoved it down, trying to focus. Bakugou. She had to protect him, but that meant she had to find him first. "They asked me where he was and I told them. I don't know why."

"Lying would've only made things worse," Deku pointed out. She could hear sirens in the background. He must have put on his detachable police light so that he could get here faster. It didn't matter.

"He said he goes to his parents' cabin," Uraraka continued at breakneck speed. There was no stopping her now. She had a job to do. Deku could take care of this. It would be a pain to tug back the jurisdiction on this case. There was a potential that they would get kicked off. "They must've looked it up because they alerted the authorities there of his condition and him being a murder suspect. They're going to hunt him down, Deku. They're going to kill him before we can get any answers. I have to get to him before anyone else does. He'll be helpless even in his werewolf state or he might break free and hurt someone while trying to protect himself."

"Shit, shit, shit," Deku mumbled under his breath. He didn't swear often, but when he did, it was always for very serious reasons, usually to do with Bakugou or a case. In this particular instance, it was both.

"I don't know where it is though," Uraraka said desperately. "You're probably the only one outside of his family that does." When he didn't answer right away, she knew that she'd hit the mark. He _did_ know. "You have to tell me, Deku. Where is that cabin? I have to protect him. I can't let anyone else die tonight."

"Uraraka," Deku replied in a wary tone, "this could cost you your badge."

"This could cost Bakugou his life!" Uraraka retorted. She couldn't shout, lest the officers hear her. She thought she was out of earshot, but she had to be careful. Honestly, she was surprised one of them wasn't standing guard over her, but she considered herself lucky. Maybe they simply trusted she would stay put since she was an officer. She'd sworn a duty to protect and serve – and protect she would.

Deku sighed, sounding horribly tired already. "I'll do what I can on this end. Please take care of him." He told her the address. Without a car, it would take her too long to get there. She had thirty minutes before the moon would turn Bakugou from a man to a wolf and all reasonings would be lost. She wasn't even sure she had that much time before a mob got to him first. Chained up and muzzled to prepare for the transformation, he'd be helpless. Before she could hang up, Deku piped up, "And Uraraka?"

"Yeah?"

"If he's too far gone, you need to get out."

She frowned. "He won't–"

"I'm serious, Uraraka, and he would say the same. You've never seen him like this. It's… He's not himself. He's not anything like you know." The tone in his voice was so pained that Uraraka couldn't argue with him. If Deku was telling her this, then he must have seen Bakugou during his transformation before. It was an awful thing to wonder. "He will hurt you and that will break him to know once he turns back so please be careful – for your sake and his."

"Okay, I will."

"You're a real hero, you know that?" Deku chuckled mirthlessly. "Not many people would risk life, limb, and livelihood for a werewolf that barks at them half the time."

"Bakugou means more to me than that," Uraraka said honestly. She'd never meant something so much in her life. She didn't know what he meant to her exactly, but it was important, wonderful, frightening, and delicate all the same.

A sad smile could be heard in Deku's voice when he hummed, "I know."

He hung up, which left Uraraka in a quandary of sorts. She didn't have a car. A bus was ridiculous. Going by cab was even worse. She had to get there fast, but how? An idea struck her upside the head, one so absurd she knew it was the only one she had.

Spinning on her heels, Uraraka picked a door at random and knocked. It took a few minutes, but the door opened to reveal a thin man. "Hello, my name is Detective Uraraka." She held up her identification for the man to read. "This is going to sound like a very strange question, so I'll be upfront. Do you have a broom?"

"I...have a swiffer wet jet?" the man replied, the statement sounding more like a question.

Uraraka pinched the bridge of her nose. Fucking hell, could this night get any worse? Sero was dead. Bakugou was being accused of his murder. She might lose her job or get accused of aiding and abetting. And the only way she could reach him in time to save him from an angry werewolf prejudiced mob was an over-glorified mop.

"You know what? Fine. Just give me the damn thing. I don't have time to be picky."

"I… Okay?"

Gods help the mob that faced her because she was ready to smite some people. Sero was dead. No, she couldn't focus on that. She would do something about that later. Deku would take care of things for now. He'd wrangle the case back into their hands. He'd fight for them and she would fight for Bakugou. They both had jobs they had to do.


	7. Sunset

**Notes:** I feel like this entire story has been building up to this morning, but it's not even the end of the mystery. Chances are I'm going to end up combining this with some Kacchakoctober in order to finish it. That's just the way life works sometimes. Things get bigger than you intend and this world I've created is something that I truly enjoy writing and love. (Side note: I forgot to update this fic on here, holy shit. Bad author, bad.)

* * *

 **Day 6: Sunset**

* * *

Uraraka was only six when she found out she could enchant almost any object to fly. It didn't have to be a broom necessarily, although those were the fastest. She didn't know why and her parents couldn't tell her either, so she never questioned it. Still, people ogled her oddly whenever they saw her flying around on a mop, so she tended to stick with the usual broom. It was fun to play to harmless stereotypes, if only because people were always startled. She'd parked her broom a few times when she first moved to the city. The reactions she received still made her laugh to this day.

There was no time to laugh right now though. The swiffer jet was a rocky ride at best and she had trouble keeping control over it, but luckily the full moon gave her a boost of power to wrestle it into a fast ride. She shot through the dark sky, ignoring the cold bite of the wind stinging her cheeks. With one gloved hand holding onto her hat and the other gripping the handle of the jet, she flew like a comet or perhaps a missile seeking a target.

She had to get there in time. She had to reach Bakugou. She honestly didn't know what she would do if she didn't. Losing Sero tonight was already a deep cut to her heart. She couldn't handle another one.

It took too long to get there. After enchanting the jet, she had cast a spell that would show her the way to Bakugou's cabin. She knew the town, but not its exact location. A green orb glowed ahead of her, a guiding star, and she flew toward it at breakneck speed, never once stopping to consider where it might bring her. The last vestiges of the sun shined on the horizon, beautiful hues of orange and pink lighting half the sky as purple and black chased it.

Once upon a time, sunsets had been her favorite time of the day. She felt like the world transformed into something completely different once the sun went down and the moon came up. There was something so peaceful and soothing about it that reminded her of the beauty of the world. Maybe it was an illusion, but she always felt closer to her magic at dusk. She felt more powerful at night.

Now, determined as she was, fear rattled in her mind and grief gripped her heart. She was chasing the sunset and it was winning. Daylight waned along with her certainty that she could save him.

When the cabin finally came into sight, relief washed over her, only to be cut off when she saw the flickering lights heading toward it. She wasn't the only one going after Bakugou. Just as she'd feared, an angry and scared mob powered by misconceptions and wrong information had formed. She could see the wavy lights of flashlights along with actual torches. People this far out of the city tended to be a mixture of both modern and old times. The main difference between then and now was that many people would be armed with both guns and knives made of silver.

By the time she reached the cabin, the mob was nearly upon it. She could hear their fearful shouts. The frantic energy that radiated from them was powerful in itself. People didn't realize the magical energy that could build up in a crowd, especially one that ran on such high emotions like fear, anger, or excitement. Just as a man threw a rock through a window, Uraraka pulled hard on the jet, forcing it to come to a halt. A few people in the crowd had already spotted her, having noticed the green orb hovering over the building.

The rest came to know her presence when she released the enchantment on the jet and she dropped from the sky like a meteor crashing to earth. She slashed her hand through the air to create a gust of wind that served to both soften her landing and also knock the crowd back. Some people staggered and struggled to stay standing while others were blown on their backs and a few of the flames were snuffed out.

Standing up straight, Uraraka tossed the used up jet to the side and held up a hand. "Stop!" Despite the fact that she'd only been riding, she was still breathing heavily. A seemingly permanent shiver had made its home in her body, but that didn't stop her from standing her ground alone against the mob. Many of them looked flabbergasted that a young woman had dropped out of the sky and commanded them, but it quickly turned back to anger.

"Get out of the way!"

"Who do you think you are?"

"We've got a right to protect ourselves!"

"We don't want a murderer in our community!"

Uraraka dropped her hand and formed it into a fist. "He's not a murderer."

"He's a werewolf!" someone else yelled. "What's the difference?"

If the mob thought they were angry, it was nothing compared to how Uraraka felt right now. Fury built up inside of her like an inferno, making her feel ready to explode at any moment. Who knew what would happen if she did? Her magic sang in her blood, begging to be released. Lightning crackled from her fist as she slid her wand into her other hand.

"What do you call this then?" she demanded, pointing at them.

"Justice!"

"Protection!"

Uraraka scowled darkly. "It's murder!"

A woman holding a shotgun stepped forward. "He killed someone. That's what we were told. I've got three children. We only live five minutes down the road. I'm not having that beast anywhere near my family."

"He didn't kill anyone," Uraraka countered. She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. She wouldn't be able to kill the frantic energy in the air if she was emotional as well. "Listen; I know that you're scared and angry, but it's important that we all remain calm. This is a very vulnerable time for all werewolves. Charging in there to kill him will only make things worse. Someone will get hurt while he's defending himself and then you'll find even more problems on your hands. Let's just wait until the sun comes up and then we can figure something out."

"What gives you the right to tell us what to do?" a man demanded.

"I'm a detective," Uraraka explained. "I'm in charge of the case he's been accused of being involved in, but I'm telling you all right now that he is _not_ a suspect. He's an innocent civilian who has done nothing wrong."

"No werewolf is innocent," the man said coldly. "They all have blood on their hands."

"And you won't if you kill him?" Uraraka retorted.

The woman with the shotgun shook her head. "Why should we listen to you anyway?"

Another man stepped forward, this one in a police officer's uniform. It appeared as if the local police had blended into the mob so none of them felt out of line. This was justified in their minds. "You don't have any jurisdiction here. Step aside!"

"'Sides," another woman added, "you're a witch! All witches are tricksters. You're lying to us! Who's to say you're not working with him?"

"We're just protecting ourselves!"

"And I'm protecting him!" Uraraka yelled back. A loud _boom_ resounded in the air, like a cannon had gone off. People shouted and dropped to the ground, but there was nothing to be afraid of. The sound had been more for dramatics than anything else. It might've busted a few eardrums if they were too close to the spell, but it wouldn't do any serious damage. She did not want to hurt anyone.

But she would. She would stand her ground. She would let them attack her before she moved. The only way they were going to get to him was through her. They wanted to be afraid of something?

They could be afraid of _her_.

"Get out of the way, witch!"

"Move or we'll move you!"

Uraraka raised both of her hands, her wand in one and holding out her open palm with the other. "Do not test me. If one of you tries to get past me to him, I will not hesitate to stop you."

"What can you do?" a man questioned dismissively. "You're so small. You can't stop us all."

A sneer more reminiscent of Bakugou slid onto Uraraka's face as she growled, "Try me." They didn't know what she was capable of.

The sun was setting, the last of its light hanging on by a thread. A scream from behind her cut through the tension, pained and crazed, and her heart leaped into her throat. The transformation was beginning. He could probably hear their shouts, but he wouldn't know what was going on. How angry was he? How confused? How scared? He was at his strongest and weakest. It wasn't right. He shouldn't have to do this alone.

At least tonight he wouldn't.

This time, when someone threw a rock, it was aimed at her. She dodged it easily. When another scream tore through the air, the mob started shouting frantically and pushing their way forward again. There would be no stopping them. They would do their best to tear through her. They could try.

The woman aimed the shotgun at her. It was shaking. "Move or I'll shoot!"

"I'd consider your children before you do that," Uraraka warned her. She had no intentions of killing anyone, but purposely attacking an officer of the law would land the woman in jail at night for the best. That was if Uraraka was feeling kind, which, to be honest, she wasn't. Didn't they see the tears in her eyes? Could they not see the pain on her face? She wasn't going to lose anyone else - not tonight, not ever. She had to protect them all, but she would start with Bakugou first.

One more painful scream was bad enough, but when it transformed into more of a howl near the end, the mob exploded with fear. The woman cried out in fear and squeezed the trigger, more out of being startled than with actual intention. The buckshot didn't hit Uraraka though, purple ripples appearing in the air in front of her as it struck the magical shield she'd created earlier. They didn't even penetrate it.

"You can't fight all of us," a man threatened, aiming a rifle at her.

Uraraka considered them. Maybe he was right. She could take them all on. Chances were that she could even take them down, but not without a few casualties. She didn't want to do that though. As furious as she was with them and their unfounded beliefs, she understood where they were coming from. After being raised their entire lives to believe werewolves were violent and evil, they had been worked into a frenzy under false assumptions. They were afraid for their families and their lives.

"You're right," Uraraka decided, "but I don't have to."

Drawing on the energy of the full moon that peeked out from behind a cloud, Uraraka swished her wand in a pattern that she'd done only a handful of times. It took a lot of energy out of her, but powered by the moon and her own emotions, she knew that she could do it. She'd never cast such a powerful barrier spell this large before, but if she did it right, no one would be able to follow her inside or get out. A gust of wind spun around her like a tornado, her hair flicking against her face and her long jacket wiping in the wind. It shoved the crowd back, knocking people off their feet and forcing every torch to go dark.

The second she released the spell, a loud explosion cracked, so strong that the ground shook and the cabin rattled. People screamed and threw themselves down, weapons and flashlights tossed aside. There was a circle in the ground surrounding the cabin, as if someone had dug a moat around it. The most notable thing was the transparent purple dome that hovered over the cabin as if it had sprung from the ground. It separated her from the mob. When one person bravely touched it, they were rewarded with a zap that forced them to jump.

"There," Uraraka breathed, closing her eyes. Sweat dripped down from her temple. "Now you can't get in - and he can't get out."

And she was locked in here with him. What was it that Deku had said? Get out if things got too bad? That wasn't going to work now. She would have to think of something else if things went south.

One of Bakugou's half screams/half howls pulled her attention back to the cabin. She heard a tear that sounded like a support beam breaking. In his panic over hearing the mob outside had he started to break free of the chains? She didn't know. A part of her was terrified to find out, but a stronger part of her felt like this was something she had to face. Could she help him? Could she calm him down? She didn't know. Maybe not. It wasn't like she had much of a choice now.

"Don't go in there!" a woman cried out.

Uraraka dropped her hands to her side. "It's fine." It shouldn't have been possible, but now that she'd created the barrier, a sense of peace had come over her. She'd protected Bakugou and kept the mob from getting harmed. Whatever happened to her tonight, she had done that much. "He won't hurt me."

She turned on her heels and ran into the cabin, the crowd screaming in horror and the sun setting fully behind her, taking away the last vestiges of her safety away with it.

To be honest, Uraraka wasn't sure what kind of sight she would be met with. She'd spent plenty of moments picturing what Bakugou's werewolf transformation would be like. Of course she'd heard stories and she'd seen pictures in books and movie depictions. She had a feeling that the latter could never truly capture the horror that encapsulated it. Bakugou liked to pretend like nothing hurt him, but how could this not? His entire body had to break and reform into a different form entirely and he did this once a month.

Upstairs, the cabin looked normal, but the door to the basement seemed to rattle with his screams. She ripped the door open and was immediately assaulted with the smell of blood once more, except this time it was fresh. It was Bakugou's. She ran down the stairs, thinking that she could handle whatever she saw, but when she reached the bottom, she was halted in her tracks. Her blood froze at the sight that greeted her and the air sucked out of her lungs, cutting off the scream she'd almost let escape her.

Bakugou hung in the back of the basement, shackled at his wrists and ankles by metal chains. They must have been charmed to restrict him until the full moon was gone, the only form of magic he'd allow himself to be touched by. The shackles dug into his skin, causing blood to drip down his wrists and onto the floor. A large muzzle to fit his transformed snout covered half his face. What was truly horrifying was that he was half-transformed, reminding her painfully of Sero's body on his floor. His legs and feet looked more like a wolf's, muscular and hairy, his claws digging into the dirt. His body shook and writhed as the moon worked its way through him, bones snapping and crunching as they manipulated his physical structure.

He looked like a horrifying monster, but when his eyes snapped open to reveal red irises, Uraraka couldn't stop herself from letting out a cry. Whatever he looked like now or would become, he was still him. He was still Katsuki.

"NO!" he roared, his voice sounding double. It was like it was him and the werewolf talking as one at the same time, their voices overlapping. "NO, GET BACK! GET OUT OF HERE!"

"I-I can't," Uraraka gasped. "There's a mob outside. They were going to kill you. I couldn't-"

"I DON'T CARE!" His screams shook her to her core, making her tremble. She heard what he wasn't shouting: _Better me than you._ She didn't believe it. She didn't care what anyone said. He wouldn't hurt her. Werewolves were victims of their own lycanthropy. It was said they couldn't control what they did in their werewolf form, but she didn't think it was entirely true. There were be more recorded werewolf attacks, more deaths. "GET OUT!"

His words tapered off into an unintelligible howl.

"You won't hurt me," Uraraka said quietly. "I know you won't."

"I can't-" Bakugou shook his head, a snarl working its way out of him, more wolf than man. "I can't control this, Uraraka. I can't!"

"Yes, you can!" Uraraka shot back. "You're stronger than this!"

"Please!" Bakugou begged. It broke her heart. She'd never heard him sound like this before. He was furious and devastated, but mostly he was scared. He sounded like...like a wounded animal, a wolf with its leg caught and shattered in a bear trap. His face had started to change now, manipulating his voice even further, his teeth now sharp enough to rip through flesh. "I'm a monster! I can't- YOU GOTTA GET OUT!"

Even though her legs were shaking, Uraraka took a step closer to him. He shied away from her one moment and then jerked on the chains toward her in the next, growling like a beast. "You're not a monster!" His eyes were still red, but they were hungry for blood. Had he ever attacked someone? Had he ever bit or slashed at a person before they could escape? She thought of the scars littering his body. Did he only tear himself apart? "I'm not leaving you, Bakugou. You don't have to do this alone."

As she lowered her wand and other hand, Bakugou shook his head back and forth. She watched in unbridled horror as his face began to reshape itself, transforming into the familiar wolf snout. Eventually his screams turned into barks and howls, no longer human. His fingers cracked and grew longer, his nails turning into sharp claws that could shred her to pieces. Werewolves weren't like regular wolves. They could be up to three times bigger and much stronger as well. They were said to be wild, crazed creatures, but all the stories she'd read, even the myths, had them hunting down their prey, which took intelligence.

"If you have to…" Bakugou managed, his voice mangled and barely understandable. "Kill me."

Uraraka sheathed her wand. "Never."

There was a moment where everything went silent and Uraraka held her breath. Bakugou was still, his fully transformed werewolf body slack in the shackles. If they hadn't been attached to the wall, he would've been collapsed face first onto the ground. They had been tight before, but now they were painfully so. He could pull and bite on them all he wanted, but she saw the intricate engravings on the metal. They would not release until the moon was gone.

He jerked his head up and connected eyes with her. Instead of the usual red, she was met with bright yellow. She couldn't find a single hint of Bakugou in them, only the wolf.

A loud snap jerked her out of her stare and she realized in shock that the chains holding his wrists had been ripped clean from the wall. The shackles were charmed to keep him tied up, but the same could not be said of the nails dug into stone. Maybe he'd never had reason to fight so hard, but with fresh blood right in front of him, the werewolf inside found the strength to break free. With his hands now free, he ripped the muzzle from his face and tossed it aside. Despite her belief that he wouldn't hurt her, fear clawed its way up her throat and her feet started to back away.

Before she could scramble back up the stairs though, he tore the remaining chains connected to his ankles from the wall and leaped forward. His front paws connected with her shoulders and slammed her back on the dirt ground, knocking the wind out of her lungs. The back of her head hit the ground causing black spots to burst in her vision. Disoriented, she could do little but gasp for breath and try to wiggle out from underneath him, but the werewolf shoved his paws down on her, his claws tearing through her jacket.

Uraraka stilled underneath him, struggling to breathe as the werewolf examined her. She pressed her trembling lips together as his snout pressed against her, his nose snorting with each sniff he took in. It was like he was savoring the smell, taking in the scent of her fear. How long had it been since he'd experienced something like this? Even though she was afraid, each snort of his nose against her skin was ticklish. She jerked when his wet nose pushed up her shirt to expose the tender skin of her belly that he could easily tear open. She was entirely exposed to him. It would be like nothing for him to take her, rip her apart, kill her.

Had this been what the victims of the murder case felt like? So vulnerable and weak? She'd never felt like this before. The urge to cry bubbled up inside of her, but she held it down. She had to believe that he wouldn't kill her. If she didn't believe that, then what good was she?

"Bakugou?"

A low growl built up in the back of the werewolf's throat. Freakishly long and muscular, he hunkered over her, his grip on her shoulders almost possessive. They were paws and then they weren't. In a strange way, despite obviously being a wolf, a werewolf still had the shadow of a man's body. He could walk on his hind legs or all four. It was scary to see one on screen walking like that, but to have one salivating over her was something else.

Slowly, his snout trailed up, over her ribcage, between her breasts, across her clavicle until it stopped at her neck. Once there, he opened his jaw and hot breath blew across her exposed skin. She couldn't stop herself from shivering as he gave her a wolf's grin, eager and all too wanting. This wasn't the violent frenzy she had been warned about, but it was no less terrifying. He pressed his nose right up against her skin, his tongue licking up to her pulse point to taste her sweat that adrenaline and fear had produced. His elongated fingers wiggled on her shoulders, claws digging into her further to the point where he almost broke skin through her jacket.

When he opened his jaw further and leaned down so that the crook of her neck was in his mouth, Uraraka lifted her hands and pressed her palms against his furry chest. He stopped, his teeth grazing her skin and saliva dripping down on her. Warmth bloomed in her palms. Fire magic was not her forte. It turned on her more often than not. She didn't want to hurt him. Likely it would only serve to piss him off even more and then she would really be in trouble, but she didn't know what else to do. Tears pricked at her eyes and slid down the side of her face.

"Please, I don't want to do this," Uraraka cried softly. "I've seen enough death already tonight. I can't handle more." He didn't move, didn't so much as blink. All he did was hold his jaw over her, panting heavily with desire. She closed her eyes. She didn't need to see in order to use magic. It was in her blood. Surely he could smell it on her. "I don't want to hurt you. I won't. You're stronger than this. You're more than this. Please, come back to me, Katsuki. Listen to my voice and come back to me."

The werewolf began to tremble atop her, as if it was physically hurting him to restrain himself from tearing into her. He growled and then whimpered. His claws dug into her, this time piercing her skin, but she bit her lip to keep from crying out and he didn't bite down. After a minute so long that it felt as if it had stretched many moons, he pulled away from her exposed neck and blinked down at her. She looked him in his yellow eyes and could've sworn that she saw Bakugou then. It was only a flash, but he was there, trapped inside the beast. Prying his fingers from her shoulders, he stepped back and off of her until finally she was completely free from him.

He'd stopped himself. He hadn't hurt her. As much as the wolf in him had craved to bite down and tear into her, Bakugou had held himself back.

When Uraraka sat up, she held onto one of her shoulders and winced. Contrary to popular belief, only a werewolf bite could turn a person into one of them. That didn't mean a scratch was harmless. She watched as the werewolf closed in on itself, staring back at her with hungry eyes. The night wasn't over yet. Somehow looking tired and sad, his gaze swung from the chains hanging from his wrists and ankles and back to the wall and she knew what he wanted her to do. She couldn't feel any relief, only the exhaustion that came with too many clashing emotions.

"Okay," Uraraka said quietly, "if you think it's necessary…" The werewolf nodded his head. "I can do that."

Pulling herself up on very shaky feet, Uraraka pulled her wand out. The spell came to her easily, but it still tugged on her heart to watch the chains lift themselves up back to the wall. She mended them with a magic so strong that not even another witch could undo them, much less a bloodthirsty werewolf. He let himself get hung up, his body sagging in the chains. It wouldn't be long before he started to fight them again, but this time, he would only hurt himself. Once her work was done, she stumbled backward until the back of her legs hit the stairs and she collapsed onto them.

"Go," the werewolf managed to garble out, or at least she thought that was what Bakugou said. It was hard to tell. Were werewolves capable of speech in their fully transformed form?

Uraraka wiped away the tears staining her rosy cheeks, but nodded her head. He was ashamed and humiliated. He didn't want her to see him struggle to break free and attack her. She knew that he was afraid that he wouldn't be able to hold himself back a second time, but it made no difference. The chains would hold this time. He would never be able to break free again, not with her magic holding him back.

As she dragged herself up the stairs, his desperate howls started to follow her. By the time she was on the first floor, she could barely stand. She shoved the basement door shut and collapsed against it, sliding down to the floor and hugging her legs against her chest. Outside, she could still see the glow of her magical barrier and hear the mob shouting furiously behind it. Her phone began to buzz in her pocket, probably a phone call from Deku or Tsu wondering where she was. She let it ring and dropped her head to her knees as sobs wracked her chest.

Ignoring the shallow marks on her shoulders, as relieved as she was that Bakugou hadn't actually hurt her, she could not revel in it, not when she knew that the morning would be rough. Something had happened in that basement, something neither of them could comprehend right now, and something had happened in his apartment that she did not want to accept. When the sun had set, it had changed everything. When it rose, the world would be different. She just didn't know how.


	8. Memory

**Notes:** Oh man, now that I'm not trying to confine this to nine chapters, it's such a relief. I didn't feel the need to squash four scenes into one chapter. Yes, this is Kacchako, but if anyone knows anything about me it's that I love to write about Deku. Hell, I haven't even brought Todoroki in this yet and _everyone_ knows I'm weak for him. Plus, you know, there's the whole mystery that started this mess. Now that the full moon is out of the way, it's time to get back to business.

* * *

"Wait for me! You're going too fast!"

"Nah, you're just slow!"

"Hold on!"

"No way! You're a slowpoke!"

"Don't you think we're going out too far? It'll take too long to get back."

"What? You chicken? Are you a scaredy cat?"

"Kacchan, please…"

Once he reached the top of the hill, Katsuki stops and looks down at the village below. It's beautiful out here, although he's admittedly too young to appreciate it. He thinks it's boring most of the time. The people that live here are stuck in the past. Many of them still own landline phones and don't have the internet. It's stupid. What do the kids do for fun out here? Play with sticks and rocks in the mud? His parents' cabin is nice at least. It's so much better than all the other houses in this dumb podunk town.

By the time Deku catches up with him, he's completely out of breath. Bent over with his hands on his knees, he pants with his mouth open. His cheeks have a healthy flush to them. When he stands up straight, he wipes a sheen of sweat off his forehead. Katsuki rolls his eyes. What a baby. Elves are so weak. They're the elite - the best of the best - the cream of the crop - but Deku can't even keep up with him on a hike.

"Wow!" Deku exclaims breathlessly. "It's so pretty!"

"Yeah, it's whatever," Katsuki dismisses.

One day, when he's older, he'll soak in this view and understand just how wonderful it is. For now, all he can think about is how much he wants to go home. He hates coming out here. It's a shitty town and a shitty reason. His parents call their place a "cabin," but that's not what it really is. As lovely as it is on the first and second floor, he doesn't come here for fun. No, that place is a dungeon and it will be his cage for the rest of his life unless he's forced to find another place. Chances are the local people won't want a werewolf using the outskirts of their village as a safe place to transform once a month.

Peering sideways at Deku, Katsuki examines the other boy carefully. He's smaller with fluffy green hair, bright green eyes, and a smattering of freckles so innocent that he looks like a cherub. It's easy to forget that he's an elf if not for his pointy ears and delicate skin. At eight, he doesn't look like most elves and Katsuki doubts he ever will. He smiles too much, laughs too easily, and is all too eager to offer a helping hand. Most elves are snobby assholes.

When Deku first walked into his classroom years ago, eyes trained at his feet, Katsuki thought that he'd be the same as the rest. He didn't talk much and spent a lot of time with his head crammed into books. Did he think he was too good to converse with everyone else? That's what the other elves in the school thought, sticking to their groups even if they lived in the same area as them. It wasn't the Low Court District, but it wasn't like the elf kids there were posh. However, Deku didn't hang around other elves either and Katsuki had noticed after the second week that he was often the target of, well, everyone, him and elves included.

To be honest, Katsuki still isn't sure of Deku. It's been nearly four years since they first met and a bumpy four years it's been. Most days Katsuki will never refer to Deku as his friend, but then, he's here with him, isn't he? Out of all his friends at school, the only one here with him now in this stupid village during this stupid time of the month is stupid Deku. He has to be an idiot for coming and his mom even dumber for letting him come.

"Why are you here?" Katsuki asks bluntly.

Deku startles out of his dreamy gaze, actually jumping, and turns to face him. "What?"

"Why are you here?" Katsuki demands, each word ending in a solid period like a punch. "It's stupid. You don't need to be here. I don't need you here. So why did you?"

Out of all the emotions that Deku could show, embarrassment is one of the last few that Katsuki expects, but Deku blushes and looks away. He's so damn honest and open with his emotions. Katsuki's pretty good at catching liars, even in adults. There are too many tells for him not to miss with his sharp eyes, ears, and nose. He's spent plenty of time waiting for Deku to slip up and start acting like a proper shitty elf, but he never does.

Katsuki huffs irritably. "Come on, you nerd, just spit it out."

"I heard our moms talking a few weeks ago," Deku mumbles, looking down at his hands as he fiddles with the hem of his white t-shirt. "Your mom said you won't take anything for the transformation. If you did, you could stay in the city, but you won't, so you have to come out here."

"What's it to you?" Katsuki grounds out. "Those potions are gross."

It's not their taste that bothers him so much. His parents are just as wary of magic, if not more because they've had more exposure to it. Werewolves and magic just don't mix. He's heard too many horror stories about how witches, elves, and even vampires once used magic to enslave werewolves. When he was younger, he gulped down every concoction his parents handed to him, but he thought it kind of hypocritical. Wolfsbane would keep him docile during the transformation, but he felt woozy and sick for days after as it slowly left his system. The potions to dim the pain were even worse, leaving him so weak afterward that he couldn't walk for hours.

When he turned eight, his mom gave him the option of choosing what he would prefer to do for his transformations and he chose the cabin. He still hates the place, just as he hates the moon on most nights even when it isn't full, just as he hates everyone that looks down on him for something he can't change. The moon doesn't make him any weaker. If anything, those people should fear him. He's only a kid, but in his werewolf form, he could tear a grown man to pieces. They're the weak ones.

As if any of them could handle their body breaking itself apart and reshaping itself into something new once a month.

"Wouldn't it make the transformation easier though?" Deku asks tentatively.

"I don't care about that," Katsuki snaps. "It's my business. You should go home. You don't belong here."

"And you do?" This time, when Deku counters him, his voice is a little more firm.

Katsuki gives him a flat glare. He's not used to Deku talking back to him like this, but the elf looks set in his ways. He can be pretty stubborn when he wants to be. "Yeah, I'm the monster." He stares back at the village. "You'll figure it out sooner or later, maybe even tonight. We'll get older and you'll be off doing something grand because you're an elf and I'll have to claw my way through life."

"I don't think so," Deku argues, "not if we stick with each other."

"Ever think I don't want to be stuck with you?" Katsuki grumbles under his breath. He says that and he swears he means it, but then when Deku asked if he could come this weekend, he said yes. His mother was surprised and sat Deku down to explain the rules, but he didn't even blink. He said he'd done research. That fucking nerd. Research. Like that counted for shit. This isn't a weekend getaway. It isn't a vacation or a field trip. It's a cold dip in reality.

"Besides, I don't want to be some stuffy government official or doctor or whatever," Deku continues, oblivious to the sullen mood. "I wanna be a cop!"

Katsuki snorts at that. Of course he would wanna be a cop, something that elves scoffed at and looked down on despite needing them. Deku has always been bright-natured. It's annoying most of the time. And yet he is here and Katsuki let him. He didn't even ask. His mother was wary, but thought it was a good idea since he never wanted her around anymore. Having gone through too many transformations herself, she isn't that great at comforting anyway. His dad is better, but not a werewolf himself, he can't understand things fully.

"That's stupid," Katsuki says. "You'd make a shitty cop. You can't even run a mile without having to stop."

"I'll get better!" Deku insists. "I'll get stronger. You'll see."

"Yeah, okay, sure."

The two boys go silent as they stare ahead of them. Even though the sun is still hanging in the sky, it won't be long before it sinks below the horizon and the moon takes its place. Already Katsuki can feel that itch - that pull - that weight dragging him down into an abyss where the monster awaits him. As much as it repulses him - as much as he hates it with every fiber of his being - he wants to accept it too. He yearns to let go and let it take over. Maybe that's just the full moon talking. When he's in that form, he's stronger than ever before. That's what he wants to be: he wants to be strong, powerful, alive. He doesn't want to feel chained up and weak.

"Why did you come, Deku?" Katsuki asks again, not looking at him.

"Because I didn't want you to feel like you're alone," Deku tells him earnestly.

A growl rumbles in the back of Katsuki's throat. "That's so stupid. You can't even be there when I transform."

"But I can be there in the morning after," Deku replies, turning to face him one more time. "No one should feel like they have to do things alone or like they're a burden." He beams. "Not even someone as grouchy as you, Kacchan."

Katsuki does not feel a hint of shame over pushing Deku down the hill. He deserves it for a cheesy, smartass remark like that. However, when Deku hits back by throwing a rock at him, Katsuki yells and chases after him. All the other boy does is laugh and run for his life, aiming for the creek since he knows how much Katsuki hates getting his tail and ears wet. Deku has the distance as an advantage, but Katsuki is quicker.

He has to be. They only have a few hours until the sun is gone and he'll need to be chained up by them and Deku safely tucked away where he can't be harmed. He shouldn't be out here - it's not supposed to be a fun trip - but for the first time in years, the moon doesn't seem so heavy.

Katsuki is nine and has suffered through too many full moons to count. He's still young enough to be foolish. Deku is still innocent enough to be naive. They're children. What do they know of fear? They will though. They'll both come to know fear quite well.

When Bakugou snapped his eyes open, he was lying on the ground, the right side of his face pressed into the dirt. He coughed roughly, dust clouding in his face, and then put his palms on the ground to push himself up with a groan. His body ached something fierce, his muscles tense and his bones seemingly grinding against each other, but that was to be expected after transforming into a beast and back into a man. His wrists and ankles were rubbed raw, but most of the blood had dried.

After he shakily pulled himself to his feet, he stumbled over to the corner where there was a change of clothes and a bottle of water. The first thing he did was snatch the water and chug it so fast that some slid out of the side of his mouth and down his chest. He didn't much care about how much of a mess he made. His throat was raw from an entire night of howling, barking, and growling and his mouth dry from the dehydration transforming caused. It still stung after a whole bottle of water, but it offered some momentary relief at least.

Wiping his mouth off with the back of his hand, he tossed the empty bottle aside and dug into the bag for his clothes. He would admit to being particular about what he wore. He liked to dress in nice things, if only because it pissed off others to see a werewolf in designer clothes. The morning after a full moon, however, he opted for comfort, sliding a t-shirt over his head and carefully stepping into a pair of sweatpants, mindful of his tail. His body temperature ran hot right before and after the full moon, so he didn't bother with socks, although he could hear his mom reprimanding him about splinters.

Unbidden, his eyes drifted to the chains. They'd never failed to hold him before. He had been coming out here since he was eight and they had held him up. It made him sick to allow himself to be touched by such magic, but it was either that or drug himself into oblivion. Neither option was pleasant. It wasn't like he was in his right mind either way, but he could bounce back and even go back to work the day after his transformation if he didn't use potions. It was better this way.

Or it had been. Those chains had failed him last night. He had failed himself and it had almost cost Uraraka her life.

Half the time, werewolves couldn't remember everything that happened while in their fully transformed state. It was why prosecuting them was such tricky business. The human part of them wasn't in control. Bakugou could remember bits and pieces, but he'd been coming here and doing this for so long that they all blurred together.

Last night had been the first time in a very long time that something different had happened. He couldn't remember all the details, but the memory of her body under his and her neck between his teeth was enough to make him sick. The mere scent of her had driven him wild before he'd even fully changed. He could only hear muffled shouts from the basement, warning him that someone was outside the cabin. He still wasn't sure what exactly had caused the cabin to shake like there was an earthquake, except he knew it was magic from the way goosebumps covered his still human skin.

When the door had opened though, he had caught the scent of her and a mixture of dread and anger had dropped into the pit of his stomach. Why the hell had she come? Out of everyone, why her? He didn't need her here. He didn't want her here. She'd said something about a mob trying to kill him, the context of which still confused him since no one in the village knew he was a werewolf, but he didn't care. She shouldn't have come. He could've killed her, seriously injured her, or, maybe worse, he could've turned her.

He'd done no such thing. With her life pulsing between his jaws, her blood and flesh so close to being devoured, her voice had forcibly dragged him back to the surface. Her gentle, warm touch, so close to wounding him with magic, had calmed the frenzied beast inside of him. He had been able to pull back just long enough for her to chain him up again and this time they would not break. He had no doubt that her magic had sealed away any cracks.

Taking a deep breath, Bakugou made his way up the stairs. He wasn't sure what he would find - it had been a long time since he'd come to after the full moon not alone - but he had to face it. He nudged the door open and stepped into the hallway. It looked the same as ever. Outside, it was cloudy, covering the sun so that everything appeared gray, but there was a strange purple glow seeping through the blinds. When he carefully peered through a curtain, he was shocked to see a massive purple shield circling the cabin. It was a powerful magical barrier, one unlike anything he'd ever seen before.

He still knew Uraraka's work when he saw it. No one else he knew could manage something on a scale like that.

With the barrier up, no one could get in. There were a few people on the other side waiting, but most of the mob must have left in the night when it became clear that the barrier would not let up no matter what they threw at it. He idly wondered how many idiots had tried to shoot it only for their bullets to ricochet back on them and hoped that it was at least two or three.

A noise further in the cabin caught Bakugou's attention, his ears flickering in the direction of the living room. He padded through the kitchen and into the room where he quickly zeroed in on Uraraka, who was curled up on the couch and using her long jacket as a blanket. He let out a breath. What a silly witch. There were three fully furnished bedrooms in this cabin and she was sleeping on the couch. He quietly stepped closer to her, hesitant to wake her up when using magic like that must've exhausted her, but then saw her tear-stained cheeks and puffy eyes.

Oh. She'd cried herself to sleep.

Guilt clawed at his heart, but he shoved it away. He didn't have time for that. Of course she had cried. She had been scared out of her mind and upset by what she'd seen. Whenever movies or television shows portrayed werewolf transformations, he always wondered if they had ever consulted a werewolf on it. None of them came close to how they actually were. Uraraka had found that out firsthand and more last night.

There were holes in the shoulders of her jacket when his claws had torn through. It was her favorite jacket. He'd have to fix that. Luckily, being able to mend clothes came with the territory of being a werewolf, although he'd be damned before he let any of his friends find out that he could sew.

Crouching down to her level, Bakugou moved to wake her up, but then hesitated, his hand hovering over her shoulder. She was wearing a dark shirt so he couldn't see any blood, but he knew that his claws had dug just deep enough to puncture her skin. Not by much, but enough to make her bleed. He could smell it on her. Instead of the intoxicating sweet smell that it gave off right before and on the full moon, it smelled metallic and tangy. He didn't like it at all.

Lifting his hand up further, instead of grabbing her by the shoulder, he gently pushed her bangs out of her face. He could feel just how wet her cheeks were from all the crying she'd done. At his touch, she furrowed her brow and made a whimpering sound as she struggled to stay asleep, but then he rasped out, "Uraraka," and she slowly opened her big brown eyes. He had never seen anyone look as tired as he felt - or so undeniably sad.

"You're okay," she whispered.

"'Course I am," Bakugou replied gruffly. "I've been around this block a few times."

Uraraka reached out to touch his face, her hands cupping his cheeks and ignoring the scruff that came from not shaving for two days. He should've pulled away - he should've knocked her hands off or stood up out of her reach - but instead he closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. He reveled in that touch. Her hands were warm, but not as soft as one might expect. She had calluses from holding a wand nearly all her life, burns on her fingertips from potions gone wrong, and scars on her palm that he didn't want to think about. It was still the most gentle touch that he'd ever experienced.

How could she touch him like this after seeing what he had been like the night before? How could she let him get this close to her? She should've been revolted by him. She should've been afraid of him. What was wrong with her? What was wrong with him for letting her do this?

"Oh, Bakugou, I-" Her voice caught in her throat. When he opened his eyes, he found that she was in tears again.

"Hey, don't apologize," Bakugou jumped in quickly, putting a hand on her arm. "It's over. The sun is up. I mean, you scared the hell out of me and I'm seriously pissed off, but I'm fine. You're _alive_. That's all that matters."

"No, it's not that," Uraraka told him, dragging herself into an upright sitting position. Before he could question her further, she fell forward and wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her wet face in his shoulder. "Everything went so wrong. I don't even know where to begin. I did everything I could to protect you, but I-I don't know if that's enough."

Despite the confusion, Bakugou held her against him, putting a hand on the back of her head and threading his fingers in his hair. "What are you talking about?"

He thought of the mob and the magical barrier. What had possessed her to come here? How had she known where the cabin was? The only other person that knew its location beside his parents was… He dropped his hand from her head and pulled back, forcing her to lift her face and look him in the eyes. Why would Deku tell her to come here on the night of a full moon? He knew damn well what a terrible idea that was.

"What happened, Uraraka?" Bakugou questioned, a hard and wary edge in his voice now.

Uraraka's lips trembled, but her words were clear as day when she said, "Bakugou... Sero's dead."

The statement washed over him like a bucket of cold water. He jerked away from her and stood up. He knew what she said, but it didn't make sense. "What?" He had talked to Sero yesterday, not even twenty-four hours ago. Uraraka staying in the apartment alone had made Bakugou anxious, especially after the way he acted the night before, so he'd asked Sero to check on her. He had agreed like it was no big deal. He couldn't be dead.

"It's my fault." Uraraka started to cry again, hiding her face in her hands and bending over. "This case… I should've found somewhere else to stay. It could've been you. Maybe it was supposed to be me. Maybe I was supposed to find him. I brought danger into your home and Sero paid the price and now..."

Bakugou's mind was running a hundred miles per hour. He was tired and sore from the full moon. He'd been foggy all yesterday after taking that potion to calm himself down so he wouldn't hurt Uraraka. He had been such a fucking idiot, thinking that he could keep his shit together when she was right there. Hell, it didn't even have to be the full moon and he felt like he might trip over himself getting to her. The potion got him under control, but he hated the way it made him feel like a zombie.

That didn't mean he was too slow to put together the pieces of the puzzle now, even if horror was trying to freeze him.

When she finally raised her eyes to his, Uraraka must have seen the realization on his face because a very regretful look came over her face. "Deku called a few hours ago. He did what he could, but you're wanted for questioning at the least. It's a tense situation right now. I have to take you in. If I don't..."

Bakugou clenched his jaw. "You'll lose your badge."

"I don't give a damn about that," Uraraka declared and he knew that she meant it. "We're under orders to bring you in using force if necessary." She looked down at her hands in her lap. "You and I both know they'll act first and ask questions later."

This shit was so fucked up. One of his closest friends had been killed in his home and he was wanted for questioning for his murder. He'd spent his entire life doing everything he could to make sure that he'd never hurt someone in his werewolf form. Turned out that it didn't matter.

Despite the inappropriate timing, Bakugou laughed coldly. "Why's that? I'm perfectly harmless now."

Uraraka clenched her hands into fists and glared. He watched her carefully. She didn't seem harmless at all. Small and cute as she was, Bakugou knew a powerhouse when he saw one. She just didn't know it herself or maybe she was starting to figure it out.


	9. Haunted

**Notes:** Oops, sorry about that mess up. I have no idea what happened!

* * *

Bakugou had never been comfortable entering the police department before. Both Deku and Uraraka had given him their codes so he had access, but he'd only used them a handful of times. If witches and elves were unusual on the force, then werewolves were nonexistent. They weren't considered trustworthy. Getting a job as a werewolf was hard enough with the discrimination before tacking on the mandatory time off. It wasn't like he could go out busting crooks during the full moon. Plus, people were worried about brutality from werewolves closer to the full moon.

Luckily for him, being a cop had never been on the table. That had been Deku's shitty dream and he'd fulfilled it despite everyone thinking him crazy. Bakugou had gone a different route, a darker one, but still legal. It walked the line a few times for sure, but his job or him being a werewolf wasn't what made him feel uneasy here. He just didn't like them or the power they and elves had. He was what he was. There was nothing that could change that. He knew he had to tread carefully around cops to make sure he didn't give them an excuse to arrest him on the spot or worse.

It didn't mean he had to be nice. More often than not, any interactions Bakugou had with cops outside of Deku and Uraraka left the former sighing exhaustedly and the latter exasperated. She tried to curb his attitude or make him feel better or more at ease. Deku knew it was a hopeless cause, but he still didn't like it when his colleagues said rude things to him.

Honestly, rude comments were the last of Bakugou's problems. He could handle anything they said to him. It wasn't anything worse than he'd already heard. The only thing that managed to get under his skin was when they suggested he was a danger to Uraraka - like they thought he would actually hurt her even if it wasn't a full moon, like they thought she couldn't take care of herself.

He wasn't a threat. He wasn't a danger. She wasn't weak.

Hadn't last night proved that much to them both? Bakugou was still somewhat in shock that Uraraka was fine. The last time he attacked someone, he hadn't backed down. It had taken a powerful burst of barely contained magic to stop him, something that had humiliated him for years to come.

He hadn't like the station before, but he hated it now. The glares were much more open and the jeers clearer for him to hear as he was paraded down the halls. With his fluffy hood over his head, he did his best to hunch over and keep his eyes down. It was hard with every comment thrown at him, making him burn from the inside out. All he wanted to do was lash out - like any of these assholes could even begin to understand what his life was like and everything he'd gone through to get where was today - but he clenched his jaw shut and didn't say a word. He didn't owe these assholes shit.

One of his friends was dead . He didn't care what they thought about him.

With Uraraka walking slightly ahead of them though, no one came too close to bothering him. She glared at anyone that came even close, looking like she might actually snap at them like she was the werewolf. He wouldn't have been surprised to find her gripping her wand under her jacket sleeve. With that threatening glare in her eyes and the way she protectively shielded him, no one would dare hurt him.

She'd been forced to handcuff him the moment she brought him in, as per orders. Neither one of them had liked it, but before she could argue with her superior officer, Bakugou had held out his wrists and told her to get it over with. He'd spent the entire night chained up. He could handle a few more hours. It made him sick having it done in his human form, but he knew better than to fight.

The moment Uraraka guided Bakugou into one of the interrogations room, his tail went stiff and his ears twitched. He wasn't afraid. Being caged up like this the morning after the full moon put him on edge though. He felt his most human the day after the full moon. Exhausted and sore and irritable but entirely human as the moon's power waned and built up all over again. The handcuffs and windowless room made him feel like he was an animal. It wouldn't take them much to lock him up. Would they even try or would Sero's murder be pinned on him despite Uraraka's and Deku's best efforts?

Uraraka gently nudged him forward and he stepped fully inside, irritated at his hesitation. "It's okay. I'll be right on the other side of the glass."

Bakugou turned to face her. "You can't stay in here with me?" He winced. Damnit, he sounded needy.

The look on her face was downright mournful. "No, they won't let me." She turned around to face her superior officer again. "Can I at least take the handcuffs off?"

Her boss' eyes flickered down to the shackles and then the folder in his hands. "No."

It wasn't a cruel or cold decision, just a factual one. It lacked any of the aggression or disdain Bakugou usually associated with werewolf hate. Then again, he wasn't sure how much emotion the police captain was capable of. Unlike werewolves, zombies weren't known for being emotional beings, after all. Uraraka still made a face, but she didn't argue this time. The handcuffs would stay on, but at least he wouldn't be shackled to the table too. That would remind him far too much of last night.

With one last plaintive glance at him, Uraraka strode out of the room and her captain shut the door. Bakugou sat down before he could be told. If there was one thing he hated more than anything, it was being told to sit like a dog.

The captain sat down across from him and put the folder on the table in between them. "My name is Captain Aizawa. I'll be conducting your interview in place of Detectives Uraraka and Midoriya."

"Really?" Bakugou responded, sinking in his seat. "I couldn't tell."

Aizawa didn't even raise an eyebrow at his sarcasm. It was like he hadn't heard it at all and instead asked, "You're aware of why you've been brought in for questioning?"

Bile rose up in the back of Bakugou's throat, but he kept it down. "Yeah, one of my closest friends was murdered in my apartment and you think I did it because I'm a big, bad wolf."

Saying it out loud made him feel even worse. How was he supposed to go back home? How could he sleep in that place knowing that while he'd been chained up in preparation for the full moon in the cabin, Sero was being killed in his apartment? How could he do anything? There was no way the crime scene clean up crew would do a good job. He'd smell the blood for weeks. Sero's blood. He was stuck in this stale interrogation room and he could already smell it.

"So you're denying any involvement?" Aizawa questioned.

"Damn right I am!" Bakugou retorted, jerking upright in his seat. "I was miles away when it happened. I make sure I'm at the cabin a solid six hours before the full moon so there's no room for accidents."

"Can anyone confirm you were there?" Aizawa asked. "Did you go to a local shop in the village? Get a drink? Can any of the locals actually place you there before Detective Uraraka showed up?"

"You think any one of those bastards would provide me an alibi after they formed a mob to kill me?" Bakugou sunk back down when Aizawa only started back and waited. Did zombies blink or was it just him? He didn't know enough about them to figure a way around him. Besides the fact that they ate brains anyway. Hopefully he wasn't hungry. "No, I didn't go into the village. I get anything I need in the city before I pack up and head out there."

Aizawa made a disappointed noise and wrote something down in his notepad. "The doorman said he saw you enter the building shortly after the victim."

"Well, he was fucking lying, seeing shit, or an idiot," Bakugou replied brusquely. "Possibly all three. Maybe it was an illusion spell, huh? I've seen people use those before."

Uraraka wasn't the only witch that he'd come across. There weren't as many of them in the city compared to the country, but there were plenty running about. He'd met Camie a few years ago. He had thought her a flighty idiot bartender, only to find out she was a deadly witch who was also paving her way through grad school. Well, she wasn't deadly to him, but she was disarming and was particularly skilled in illusions. The police should consult her. It had to be possible to trick the doorman into thinking Bakugou had come back to the city.

"We're looking into the possibility," Aizawa told him blandly.

Bakugou made a noncommittal scoff. "Why don't you just have Uraraka check? She can tell if any magic was used." When Aizawa didn't respond to him and continued to stare at him with that unreadable expression, it clicked in his head and his heart dropped into the pit of his stomach. "You think she might be compromised somehow."

"You were the last recorded call on Sero's cell, meaning you were the last person to speak with him," Aizawa went on without answering him. "Did you ask him to go to your apartment?"

"Yeah, I wanted him to check on Uraraka," Bakugou told him, heat in his voice. "What with her investigating these murders and then her apartment building burning down, I was…" He squirmed uncomfortably in his seat. Being forced to admit things to a stranger that he didn't even like admitting to himself was difficult, but he couldn't afford to hide things right now. "I was worried about her. I know she's a stronger witch than she thinks and no one was supposed to know where I lived, but she was going to be alone. I kind of hoped she'd stay with her friend Asui."

Aizawa flipped a few pages in his notes and stated, "Tsuyu Asui, the nix whose family owns a tea shop - she was able to corroborate Uraraka's alibi."

"Are you looking into her for the murder too?" Bakugou scoffed. "Do you think she burned down her own apartment building to destroy evidence or something?"

"Tell me the events of your day leading up until Detective Uraraka found you."

Bakugou huffed. This was worthless. They weren't going to get anything useful out of him, but he explained his day anyway. How he woke up before Uraraka, went for a long run to clear his head, came back to his place to shower and grab his things after she was gone for work, made himself something to eat, and then went to the cabin. It was as simple as that.

Truth be told, despite his excess energy and pent up aggression, he couldn't do much of anything else. He was always distracted and disgruntled the morning of a full moon and his memory tended to be foggy as a result. He could've spoken to Sero's murderer and not even known. Hell, he'd been out of his mind the night before when he'd gotten into that bar fight because some asshole werewolf had insulted Uraraka and then he nearly took her in the alley. He hadn't been in a good thinking state of mind yesterday, solely relying on habits to get him where he needed to be.

That was what was haunting him, wasn't it? The fact that he had been absolutely useless yesterday. He had been able to do nothing to help his friend - had maybe even contributed to his death by sending him to his place. Had the killer been waiting for Uraraka to return, only for Sero to stumble upon them instead? They had to have known that he wouldn't be there. That was unless they thought he took wolfsbane for the full moon and rode the night drugged out of his mind.

It was hard to say. There were so many things to consider. Were the police doing the same or were they trying to pin it on him? Again, he couldn't tell. Most cops disliked or were wary of werewolves at best. He knew what their holding cells were filled with. He could smell the scent of werewolf in the air, along with the stench of fear and anger (or maybe he was confusing things with his own smell). He wasn't sure how Aizawa felt about werewolves. He had a strong pokerface and the undead smell of a zombie along with no heartbeat to confuse him.

A light bulb turned on in Bakugou's mind as Aizawa took a few more notes. "There's a toll bridge!" The police captain paused in his note taking to glance up at him. "On the way to the cabin, there's a toll. Uraraka missed it because she used a damn swiffer wet jet to get there, but you have to pass through it on the way there and back. We did this morning. That fucking toll troll never lets up. You don't have his very specific fee of fresh lamb leg or gold coin, he won't let you on the bridge. It's annoying. Can't he just switch to credit?"

"And this troll can confirm you went on the bridge only once last night?" Aizawa asked.

"Well, he doesn't talk much, being that he's a troll," Bakugou replied, a smug look on his face despite the gravity of the situation. "But the traffic camera installed does the trick. He does not accept repeat offenders. They get tossed off the bridge if caught not paying again and I've been a loyal customer for years."

Aizawa looked into the one-way mirror and nodded, sending whoever was behind it on a mission to find that picture, before turning back to him. "And there's no other way to get there?"

"I mean, not unless you want to fly apparently or walk through a dense forest," Bakugou said. "You can check it yourself. The village is pretty remote. That cabin has been in my mom's family for a while. They chose it for a reason."

The other man (was he a man?) nodded again, half to himself it seemed. He was letting Bakugou do most of the talking, which he both appreciated and didn't like. The latter because he didn't like to explain himself and the former because it meant that he was being given a chance. It was more than Bakugou could ask for in the situation. It was a hell of a lot more than most cops would give him, especially the ones in that mob last night. Uraraka had been damn near shaking with rage when she'd told him how she had faced that crowd.

What he wouldn't give to see her display her true power like that. He didn't know why she kept it so hidden. A part of him wondered if she didn't even know how strong she was. He'd been able to tell right from the start that she wasn't nearly as fragile as she looked. When he had brought it up once with Deku, the elf had just shaken his head and shrugged. Magic was a strange thing. Bakugou would never understand it like Uraraka or even Deku. It was to be used against him, not for him.

The thought made his attachment to Uraraka that much more irritating. He shouldn't have let himself get so close to her in the first place, but there had been something about her that drew him back time and time again.

When Aizawa didn't press him harder or question his behavior, Bakugou was struck with another realization. "You don't think I did it."

"No, I don't," Aizawa confirmed flatly.

"Then why bring me in like this?" Bakugou demanded, lifting his hands to show his still handcuffed wrists. They would have been tighter had they been put on anyone else besides Uraraka or Deku, but she had snatched them and put them on him herself to make sure they weren't. The others were all too eager to show him who was boss, especially since he was outwardly disdainful of them.

What was worse than a werewolf that didn't know his place? Oh, right, one that was better than them. He made sure to wear his nice clothes whenever he came to the police station.

Except for right now - he looked like shit - but then he hadn't been planning on being paraded into a building filled with enemies. While the clothes he wore the day after the full moon weren't raggedy by any means, they weren't nice at all either, designed for comfort. Bakugou knew that he looked much more like the drab werewolf they believed him to be, even if his exhausted demeanor dispelled any air of danger about him. No werewolf looked threatening the day after the full moon despite being a monster the night before.

"There is a lot of pressure coming from up the chain," Aizawa explained. "A lot of resistance to the evidence produced at the crime scenes too. It's easier to believe a werewolf committed these crimes and people, even cops, will do stupid and frantic things when afraid." He waved a tired hand at Bakugou's handcuffed wrists on the table. "It was either that or something much worse."

Bakugou snorted. "Uraraka would have flipped."

"Of that, I've no doubt," Aizawa said. This time he frowned. It looked like disappointment, but it could have just as easily been that he was tired of this mess. "Detective Uraraka has put a lot of faith in you." He propped an elbow on the table and rubbed his temple, like he was trying to massage out a headache. Were zombies capable of getting headaches? Granted, he hadn't realized they could be so smart either. Maybe it had to do with what brains they ate. Eat some high grade ones and you wouldn't be a brain chomping fool all the time. "Detective Midoriya was even worse. He was up all night fighting everyone that even hinted at slandering you. I had to send him home before he did something that cost him his badge."

Of course that shitty nerd would get so emotionally involved that he'd get himself in trouble. Sometimes, Bakugou genuinely didn't understand Deku. As an elf and out of everyone that Bakugou knew, he should've been against him. He shouldn't have trusted him so easily with Uraraka or believed in him. They shouldn't be friends. Bakugou knew he hadn't been a nice kid and he hadn't grown into a nice adult, not like Deku, who practically shit sunshine when he smiled and rainbows when he laughed. That was the kind of man Uraraka deserved, wasn't it? He should have considered himself lucky Deku's interest didn't extend that way, but it still put him on edge.

Deku knew what Bakugou was like deep down. He knew the truth. He knew the monster. Bakugou was a werewolf at all times - just because he was in a man's form ninety-five percent of the time did not change that fact - but for one night of every month, he was a beast. Deku fucking knew better than to send Uraraka to the cabin last night and yet he had deemed it necessary to do it anyway. It pissed Bakugou off. He was one of the very few to have seen Bakugou at his worst and had nearly been a victim of it.

Yet here he was, fighting tooth and nail with his colleagues and superiors to protect him. It didn't make any sense. No one could be that good - no one could be that understanding - not to a werewolf at least.

"They firmly believe that a werewolf has not committed these murders and everything about your friend's death last night suggests it's connected," Aizawa told him, folding his hands on top of the folder. Bakugou's eyes flickered to it. Were there pictures in there? Would he see Sero's last moments if he were to open it? He didn't know if he could do that. He liked to think of himself as impenetrable, but there were some things that would haunt even him. As if his imagination wasn't enough. The truth would only make it worse. "I don't know much about magic myself, but I trust both Detective Uraraka's and Detective Midoriya's abilities - both with magic and as officers of the law."

"Damn right," Bakugou grumbled. He would've like to have folded his arms across his chest, but seeing as how he was handcuffed, he had to settle for dropping his hands into his lap.

"Besides," Aizawa added almost thoughtfully, "I can't picture you pulling such a fast one on them like that. And to invite one of the investigating detectives into your abode after burning down her place? It would be a ballsy and dangerous move. There are easier ways to get information about the investigation out of her."

"Oi!" Bakugou burst. "I'm smart."

Why was he taking offense to Aizawa basically saying that he wasn't a murderer? Hell, he needed to get his priorities in order. His head was all over the place. He still kept thinking about Uraraka, wondering how she was fairing. Was she on the other side of that glass, biting her thumb as she silently watched his interrogation?

"Yes, you are," Aizawa said. Well, that was...not as satisfying as Bakugou would've liked. It felt anti-climatic. "Your school records and resume suggest you're very dedicated and intelligent. From what I've heard about you though, despite your volatile behavior, you're very adamant in proving that werewolves aren't killers and also quite honest."

The comment made Bakugou deflate. Honest. Right. He was honest. Bakugou didn't see much of a sense in lying. He was who he was and that was that. People got what they saw. He was werewolf and there was no denying or hiding that, especially not with his damn tail and ears. Jackets only got him so far in the fall and winter. He didn't hide what he thought or how he felt.

Except when it came to Uraraka. He'd been hiding a lot of how he felt about her, hadn't he? Even from himself. What an idiot he'd been. He could deny it all he wanted before, but after last night, there was no avoiding it. Had it been anyone else in that basement, even Deku or his father or Kirishima, Bakugou had no doubts he would've killed or turned them. Deku still had the scar on his right arm and hand to prove how ruthless Bakugou was in his werewolf state. The small wounds he'd inflicted on Uraraka would most likely heal without issue. He'd let her essentially tie him back up again.

He couldn't lie about her much longer.

"So where to from here, boss?" Bakugou asked.

"I need some more information from you and then a DNA sample."

Bakugou took a deep breath and nodded. "Yeah, yeah, whatever you need to catch the bastard that did this."

"Then I'll need Uraraka's and Midoriya's statements to compare against yours," Aizawa continued like he was ticking off a checklist. Did he really not have any feelings about this? "With the two of them so closely involved, there's a chance IA will want them pulled from the case."

"You can't do that!" Bakugou exclaimed, shooting forward. "This is their case. If it wasn't for Uraraka, you idiots would still be at square one hunting down every werewolf on the street. It's thanks to her the case is going anywhere."

Aizawa gave him a hard look that made him snap his jaw shut and lean back in his seat. "I know that, but the decision is out of my hands. You're not the only one facing an uphill battle here. They went out on a limb to protect you and, along with the arson of Uraraka's apartment being officially connected to the case, things are not looking good."

"It's not fair," Bakugou grumbled. "What if that's what the murderer wants? What if they want Uraraka and Deku off the case because they're getting closer than anyone else did?"

"That's something we'll have to consider as well," Aizawa responded, which wasn't an answer at all. It made Bakugou want to snort in derision, but he stayed silent. Kirishima would be proud. The truth was, he was too tired to keep on arguing and fighting right now. He normally spent the day after the full moon recuperating, not being interrogated for murder. "We also have to consider that you might be a target now."

"Well then they're welcome to try again," Bakugou snarled. "I'll throw them a nice party."

Aizawa sighed, as if he was too tired for this. Did zombies get tired? He bet Deku knew. That nerd knew the stats and habits of every magical creature he came across. It did come in handy sometimes when he was stuck dealing with creatures he wasn't familiar with.

Hopefully this didn't take much longer. Bakugou was going to be beyond exhausted by the time this was done. He still had to wait for Uraraka and Deku to be questioned. It wasn't fair. He knew that, as far as werewolf and murderer standards were concerned, he was innocent. The other two and their friends would know he was innocent. Captain Aizawa even believed he was innocent. He had a friend to fucking mourn and an apartment…

Fuck, he didn't want to go back to that place if he got out tonight. As much as he desperately wanted his bed, he didn't want to step foot in there either. He would have to pay someone to thoroughly clean it before he went back, but the mere idea of scrubbing any remainder of his friend away made his stomach turn. Was that all Sero meant to him? No, no, he had been more, but Bakugou couldn't help but feel like he was lacking. They'd been friends, sure, but had he ever really shown Sero that?

He'd have to get a hotel. He didn't know where that would put Uraraka. Maybe she would stay with Asui this time. All he knew was that he couldn't go back home. It was a fucking crime scene. It was a grave.

It was a haunting, whether Sero came back as a ghost or not.

Bakugou couldn't go back to that. He couldn't. He'd rather go to a motel than back there tonight or tomorrow. As strong as he was, right now, all he felt was vulnerable and it pissed him the fuck off. How dare anyone make him feel like this? Sometimes Uraraka did and it always threw him for a loop, but this was bad. This made him feel awful. It made him anxious, furious, and desperate. It made him want to blow something up or lash out and tear things to shred with his bare hands.

He knew that the second he was in Uraraka's presence again those feelings would go away, but that didn't make him feel much better either. He shouldn't put so much on her - so much that she didn't even know. It wasn't fair to her. It wasn't fair to anyone. All he wanted was for this nightmare to end, but it felt like they were only in the middle of this story and it could go either way.


	10. Chilling

**Notes:** I didn't know where I was going with this chapter until about halfway through. Ten chapters in, I figured it was high time for my boy to come into the picture. I didn't know fully what I was doing with him until I started writing him as well. Detailed and well thought-out plot, this is not. Weh, plot stuff!

* * *

"I can't believe they're threatening to take the case from you two," Kirishima huffed as he dropped their drinks down on the table. Beer sloshed over the rim, making Bakugou scowl, but Deku used a handful of napkins to clean it up before a spat could happen. "It fucking sucks."

Deku set the wet napkins aside. "It's standard procedure. Not only has Uraraka become involved in the case, but we didn't exactly follow direct orders last night."

"Yeah, you were protecting Bakugou!" Kirishima exclaimed, plopping on the stool next to Deku. "Protecting people is a part of your job as a cop too, isn't it?"

"So is following orders," Deku replied with a mirthless smile.

Uraraka couldn't blame his down mood. She understood his frustration because she felt it too. When he glanced at her, his smile softened and he nodded his head. It didn't loosen the tension in her chest, even if he was telling her that he didn't blame her for what she'd done. Had she not flown off the handle to find Bakugou, they might not be in such hot water, but then Deku had played a part as well. He'd covered for her, argued with colleagues, and even had the nerve to get into it with the two detectives who she'd left on the scene.

Trouble might have followed her, but he had sought it out in this case.

"It's not fair," Kirishima mumbled.

Deku pat his hand. "It's also not over yet. There's a chance the case will remain in our hands. IA is just doing their job too. We might not like it, but it's a necessary part to ensure abuse of power is kept in check." Bakugou snorted in his drink and then took a large gulp. Deku sighed. "Well, kept to a minimum, at least. It's unfortunate but true."

"The officers that took part in the mob didn't even get a slap on the wrist," Uraraka ground out furiously. She had picked out the ones she had seen and Aizawa had spoken with their captain, but nothing was to be done. There was no real proof that they were involved except for Uraraka's eyewitness account and, according to them, witches were known to be conniving. It was a small town mostly made up of humans with no love of magic. Of course.

"It happens all the time," Bakugou told her. "Don't bother losing sleep over it."

"I'm just glad Captain Aizawa released you," Deku said brightly in an attempt to power through the dark mood. He was always so good at that. It was like his own bit of magic. "After Kaminari found your photo on that bridge and CSI determined that illusion magic had been used on the doorman, there wasn't anything capable of holding you."

Bakugou didn't even blink when he replied, "I thought me being a werewolf was good enough cause for cops."

Unfortunately for him, Deku wasn't the type to back down either. "Luckily for you, our captain doesn't care about such things. It wasn't long ago when zombies were considered below werewolves. He fought hard to get where he is today and he isn't going to let someone else marginalized get persecuted and dragged through the mud."

They were lucky to have a captain like Aizawa. She knew that Deku had started off under him, but she had transferred to his station after being a cop in the country for a year. Grouchy and not warm at all, lack of a pumping heart notwithstanding, she hadn't expected much. She'd heard a lot of things about the city growing up, but one thing her parents had warned her about was that witches' standings were different there. They didn't group together like they did outside of cities. She would be looked at strangely and maybe not even treated seriously. Aizawa hadn't cared about what she was except for what she could do.

"It doesn't matter if they pull us off the case or not," Uraraka proclaimed, halfway to herself. The other three gave her a curious look. Sighing, she lifted her satchel onto the table, opened it up, and began to pull file after file out of it. Not as used to her magic, Kirishima gawked as she stacked enough paperwork until it resembled a tower and then poked the bag like it might give him an answer. "That's only half of it."

"Couldn't you have just copied it to a hard drive or something?" Bakugou complained.

"I did, but they took that too," Uraraka said.

Kirishima scratched his head. "So you just printed out copies of everything?"

"Don't be ridiculous." Uraraka began to tuck them back into her bag, which only seemed to confuse Kirishima even more when it didn't bulge with all the files. "I used a simple copying spell."

"There's magic for everything," Bakugou said dryly.

Deku gave her a worried look, although he didn't look surprised. "You could get in serious trouble if they find out you're investigating this on your own if we get taken off."

"So what?" Uraraka demanded. "You're just going to let it go after all the work we've put into it?"

"Of course not," Deku replied. "I kept my copy of the files hidden in my safe at home, not in my desk at work."

Uraraka smiled a little. Now that was her partner. He wasn't capable of letting anything go. Once he got his mind stuck on something, he was relentless. It was why he had one of the highest closed case rates in the station. He was smart with natural intuition and the determination to never give up. It was his credibility that had landed them these murders in the first place and now it was her flightiness that might get them taken off. No, it wasn't fair. She'd put her heart into this case as well.

Light poured into the dim bar when the door behind them opened. Judging from the way Bakugou's eyes narrowed into a glare, Uraraka knew exactly who it was without turning around. He glared at nearly everyone he came across, even his closest friends, but no one made him as prickly as one specific person. There had to be a reason for it, but neither one of them talked about it and she didn't ask.

"Sorry I'm late," Todoroki said by way of greeting as he sat in the empty stool between Deku and Uraraka.

"Sure this place isn't too grimy for a rich bastard like you?" Bakugou snarked.

Todoroki unraveled his scarf from his neck and folded it onto his lap. "I can handle mingling with the lesser folk for a bit." His voice was completely even and near-monotone, but Uraraka recognized it as a joke right away. Bakugou did as well, but it didn't make him scowl any less. "I got stuck in a meeting."

"Life is one big meeting when your father is running for office at the Magisterium," Deku pointed out. "He's causing quite the stir. Some elves and humans aren't happy."

"Like that has anything to do with me," Todoroki sighed. As the youngest son in a family renowned for many different reasons, it was natural that he was in the public eye often. Uraraka had heard of him before she'd ever met him. It was impossible to live in this city and not know the Todoroki family name. Not only were they the second wealthiest family, but they were also the oldest - and they were dragons. Well, shape-shifting dragons to be precise. She had nearly had a heart attack when Deku had told her after they'd presented their case to the young ADA.

Dragons. In the city. There were very few left and all of them came from very old families. It was said that many of them had died out because of wars between each other. Uraraka was endlessly curious about it, but Todoroki was the most closed off person she had met. The idea that there was a dragon as an ADA and then finding out that his father was the General Attorney… Well then. That was something indeed. Todoroki was their connection to the judicial system with this case, but they hadn't been able to provide him with any evidence to take it to court.

How frustrated he must have been. This was the kind of case that would shoot him to the top of all the other ADAs.

Still, the idea that a dragon was a measly lawyer…

"Do you still have those pictures?" Todoroki abruptly asked as he turned to face her.

As evidenced by what she'd just put on the table, she did. "Of what?"

"The last crime scene," Todoroki said. "I've been thinking about it. The fires… There's something not right with them."

Uraraka huffed as she dug through her satchel again. "I know that."

"No, it's...something different," Todoroki replied, his brow furrowed.

She picked out the file in question and pulled it out to set on the table. He took it from her and began to flip through it. The other three at the table stared it down, like they might be able to figure out what he wanted to find. Finally, he stopped when he reached the pictures of the damage done by fire. That was one of the main sources of their problems. The fire was so destructive and powerful it ruined every bit of evidence available. She still didn't know what spell was being used to do it. There was so much magic surrounding each murder she couldn't pick it apart.

Todoroki snagged one of the pictures and pulled it towards him, staring down at it with so much intensity that she felt the urge to back off. "This. I kept coming back to this."

"What are you talking about?" Uraraka asked.

"The ashes." Todoroki pushed the picture to her. It was of a pile of ashes assumed to be the murder weapon. The fire had taken away everything from them. "That wasn't done by the fire."

Deku snatched the picture and stared it down. "What do you mean?"

"I mean," Todoroki said carefully, "I've seen a lot of things reduced to ash by fire but none in that way."

Everyone at the table flinched away from the picture, except for Todoroki, who stared it down. Even Deku lifted his fingers from it. Uraraka leaned forward to pull it to her and gave it a closer look. For so long, she had been trying to find the right fire spells and the people capable of them, but if this particularly destruction hadn't been done by fire, then she had been looking at it all wrong. What had she been missing?

It hit her like a punch to the gut and horror fell over Uraraka. "A decay spell?"

"They're very rare, aren't they?" Todoroki replied in a solemn voice.

"Yes," Uraraka damn near breathed, shivering involuntarily. "They're volatile spells. Dark magic. Not all Dark magic is bad. I've used it before." Deku didn't blink and Todoroki remained unaffected, but she tried to ignore the way Bakugou eyed her and how Kirishima looked into his drink. "But some… Decay spells turn on their casters eventually. Oh, they're strong, but after a while…" She couldn't imagine anyone using a decay spell. She had always been taught how dangerous they are. And now? Well, it made sense. Whoever was committing these murders was capable of magic and they weren't in their right minds. "We'd see signs of the magic in the people we questioned."

Even worse, decay spells were much harder to detect. They lived up to their name, rotting and coming apart at the seems until they no longer existed. It was a chilling discovery, one that unsettled her a lot more than she wanted to admit. She had been taught from an early age that most magic was good, but there was some that were beyond bad. It was twisted and disgusting. Such magic left its mark on the user, transforming them into something monstrous.

"What kind of signs?" Deku finally asked.

"It's hard to describe," Uraraka said, "but you would know there's something not right with them immediately. Magic like this corrupts the mind, body, and soul. It's impossible to hide." She frowned and held out her hands palms up. "It can look like a person is rotting from the inside out. They'd have to use some heavy duty glamour or illusion charms to be able to hide it."

Bakugou gulped down the rest of his beer and pushed the glass aside. "Like the one used to trick my doorman into thinking that I'd come back to my apartment."

Uraraka nodded. "Exactly."

While Todoroki flipped through a few more pictures done by fire, the rest of them sat back in thought. Eventually, Bakugou stood up to order them another round. Uraraka idly slipped a fingertip around the rim of her drink, staring down at the pink liquid like it might find some answers in the reflection. She knew of witches who could do such things, but fortune telling had never been her forte. If she had been any good at tarot readings, they would've been a lot further in this investigation instead of a tail behind.

Catching the still-troubled look on Todoroki's face - the slight furrow of his brow, the dark intensity in his eyes, the downward turn of his lips - Uraraka dragged her attention away from her drink and back to him. "Is there something else bothering you?"

"It's just…" Todoroki frowned further and squirmed in his seat to get more comfortable. "The fire. At first, I was focused on how wrong it was. You know, the destruction didn't fit, which is why when the idea of other magic at play came to mind, I thought that would put any concerns to rest, but there's something…"

"Odd?" Deku suggested.

" _Familiar_ ," Todoroki concluded, his voice distant.

That caught Uraraka off guard. The fire department had been the first responders on the scene to the first murder. It hadn't been until the fire had been safely put out did they even find the body burnt to a crisp. Back in the beginning, they had assumed that the fires were naturally done because of the use of an accelerant. The fire easily spread past the gasoline or lighter fluid that was used.

Uraraka agreed with Todoroki in that it was off. It was why she'd decided to look into fire spells and asked him to personally take a closer look at the pictures since he was most familiar with fire out of all of them. It was too strong for magic to not be involved. By the time Deku and Uraraka had been brought onto the case, the police had determined the fires were being used to cover up the crimes, but beyond thinking it was a werewolf who came back to cover their tracks the morning after, there was very little evidence. The fire was destructive enough to destroy a timeline and most of the evidence, but the wounds were deep enough to still be seen even after being burned.

Not long after they figured out that it was an elf involved in the murders and not a werewolf, they stopped burning the body or trying to destroy it, leaving it preserved as if to mock them. Fire was still used to destroy evidence, but the besides the mortal-inflicted wounds, the bodies were left untouched. That was what really sealed the deal for other people who hadn't believed that magic was being used for the fires. No natural fire could be so precise.

"Fire isn't as - well, it's not like a fingerprint," Todoroki explained carefully. "I mean, once you're trained in spotting the differences and use the appropriate tests, you can tell how certain fires are started. Using accelerant and what kind. The temperature of the fires. Whether magic, matches, or a lighter was used to start it."

He lifted his left hand over the table. As he unfurled his hand, a flame rippled to life above his palm. It was beautiful, the orange glow casting an eerie light over their faces. Even though she was fully capable of fire spells, she wasn't overly fond of them. They were powerful stuff and took on a life of their own. Although they were very easy to cast and some of the first spells that any witch or wizard learned, they were notoriously difficult to control.

For Todoroki, it was different. Fire was a part of him, although it was still considered magic. Even in his human form, creating flames was as natural as breathing. He didn't necessarily use magic in order to create fire; it was more like he was magic. Dragons were considered some of the oldest beings on the planet. There was even tales of them being involved in the creation of magic, a cornerstone for both fire and ice, although not everyone believed in such things. They were certainly old.

"You said it looked familiar," Uraraka prompted.

"Well, it's hard for me to tell just from a picture," Todoroki said as he pulled out a picture of Uraraka's apartment building up in flames. It was the only photos they had of the actual flames and not just the aftermath. The fire department had decided only two days ago that the murders and the arson were connected. "But when I saw the news of the fire, I couldn't help but be reminded of my flames - or maybe more of my father's. I don't use mine very much, after all, so maybe that was why I didn't notice it before. Plus, mine is strong, but it can't destroy that much, which was why the decay spell threw me off."

The comparison was unsettling. "Are you saying that you think another dragon is involved?"

Todoroki looked uncomfortable. "I'm just saying the fire looked familiar. I watched the recordings of your apartment burning multiple times. Once I started looking at it that way, it made more sense. The fire was very controlled. We all assumed there was a barrier spell, but I can make a barrier ring with my own fire. It's difficult on a grand scale like that, but not impossible. Plus, dragons can use magic as well. Both my mother and sister are gifted in it."

He didn't like what he was saying, but it had clearly been resting on his mind. He didn't look any happier to have gotten it off his chest. There weren't many dragons around anymore, especially in these parts. Todoroki's family was the most prominent in the area. Of course there were others, but they weren't nearly as known and they didn't stay for very long. If there was another dragon around from a different clan or area, then they could be a direct threat to his family and his father's standing. As much as he didn't like getting involved in things, a dragon being involved could potentially drag Todoroki down with Uraraka and Deku and get him kicked off the case.

Deku tapped his chin thoughtfully. "The fire wasn't just used to conceal evidence of the crime; it also concealed evidence of the cover-up, the decay spell." He was beginning to mutter to himself again, a habit he fell into whenever his mind started to work faster than the rest of him. "Fire is a more general magic, but we'd know what to look for if we knew what specific types of spells were being used."

Kirishima whistled and scratched the back of his head. "All this talk is giving me a headache." He slugged back the rest of his drink, which Uraraka was certain was the actual cause of his headache. That brew was dark and sludgy, but it was a favorite of orcs because of how potent it was. They had to drink something a little stronger than the rest of them. She was fine with her fruity drinks. "It's a lot of magic for one murder."

"Any magic is too much magic," Bakugou put in as he sat back down and shoved their drinks at them. He had even bought one for Todoroki, which was kind of him considering how they usually got along. Maybe he was feeling generous after being trusted and believed. Uraraka didn't flinch at his disdain toward magic. She was too used to it by now. Besides, she knew he didn't mean it personally.

It did, however, make her think. "It _is_ a lot of magic."

"Fire, decay, illusion, and maybe a few others," Deku listed off.

"Those are usually specialty magic," Uraraka added. She and Deku connected eyes, realization blooming in them at the same time. "We're not dealing with just one killer."

"That would explain how Sero was overpowered," Kirishima pointed quietly. Judging from the way they went silent, all of them had been thinking about that fact. It was so obvious now that she looked back on it. More than one person had attacked him that night. Had he even stood a chance?

If the thought of someone using seriously dark, dark magic was bad enough, the idea that multiple people were working together in these killings was sickening. What kind of people got together as a group to commit murder? And for what purpose? To what end? Had she been targeted because of her involvement in the case? Had Bakugou? She rather thought that he'd been a convenient way to get to her. Even though he had an established alibi for Sero's death and Aizawa had let him go after questioning all of them, people had still turned against him. He kept tugging on his hood to hide his ears, anxious at being called out.

The pictures from the other night remained in a separate folder out of their sight. She didn't want to upset Bakugou or Kirishima any further than they already were. She'd had to do some digging in order to get them. It had been thanks to Officer Shinsou she had been able to get a hold of them at all. She didn't have access to file, but being the first responder on the scene, he did. To be honest, she wouldn't have thought to ask him for his help, not after the way he and his partner had treated her, but he had come to apologize for their behavior. Words meant very little to her - she'd learned a lot time ago that spells required both action and words - and so she had asked a favor of him instead.

"It was bad enough when you all figured out that an elf was involved in this." Todoroki sighed, pressing a finger against his temple. "I'll have to ask my father if he's heard anything from other dragon clans, but he won't like it." With a surname like Todoroki, it was impossible for him to not be associated with his father, who was one of the most important and influential people even outside of the city. He didn't like it though. Everyone assumed that he had political aspirations as well, which his father would've liked. "What's next? A warlock? You know how high and mighty they are."

Uraraka snorted. "Don't remind me."

"Merlin, this is a mess," Todoroki grumbled, taking the drink that Bakugou had bought him. He took a sip of it and made a face, but kept drinking without complaint.

Bakugou clenched a fist around his mug. "We're going to get to the bottom of this and take out those bastards."

His simmering fury made Uraraka uneasy. Normally he spent time cooling down after the full moon, but his hackles were raised and he was ready for a throwdown. "We?"

"They fucking made this personal," Bakugou snarled, clenching his glass so tight she was worried it would shatter in his hand. "I'm not resting until whoever is behind Sero's murder is taken care of."

"You mean arrested and convicted," Deku said in a tone the suggested he already knew what Bakugou meant.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night," Bakugou replied dismissively.

Deku sighed and glanced at Kirishima, who could only shake his head. Uraraka looked worriedly to Todoroki, whose level gaze was focused on Bakugou. It was hard to tell what they were all thinking, but she could feel the wary tension hanging between all of them. There couldn't have been a more diverse group of magical creatures in a bar - except for, perhaps, the group that had been committing these crimes.

She looked around the room, but no one stood out. It was easier to blend in than people realized. Considering that he didn't look like most elves, all Deku really needed was a hat in order to hide his identity. Uraraka could pass as a plain human as long as she didn't use magic or wear any defining, stereotypical clothes. Bakugou could hide his tail and ears with the right clothes. Todoroki was able to easily pass as human as well when he wanted. Now that she thought about it, she'd never seen him outside of his human form. Only Kirishima had too many physical aspects to hide his orc blood.

If a glamor spell was being used to hide the telltale signs of the dark decay magic, then it could conceivably be anyone. The right illusion charm could even hide the fact that magic was currently being used by inverted the spells, although that would linger after the fact. No elf in their right mind would use such magic though, would they? Not that she liked to stereotype, especially considering her partner was an elf, but they tended to be, well, vain and considered such magic beneath them. They'd already been going about this investigation the wrong way by looking for only one suspect. How much more were they wrong about?

"Should we tell someone about our suspicions?" Uraraka asked.

Deku gave a helpless shrug and looked even more bewildered. "I honestly don't know if they'll listen right now or if we'll just get in trouble more for continuing to dig." He tapped the tap with a finger. "I don't think we should keep this to ourselves though. It's our case, but I don't care who solves it as long as the murders are stopped."

"I care," Bakugou mumbled, glaring at his drink as he folded his arms across his chest.

"Well, you two might be in limbo, but I'm not," Todoroki said decisively, ignoring Bakugou's words. They all did. "I can go own to the station and let Aizawa know about my concerns. I did ask you to meet me, after all."

"He'll know we're involved," Deku pointed out. "He always does."

"It's a risk we'll have to take," Uraraka said. "He's helped us before."

Honestly, Uraraka didn't know where she would be had she not been able to transfer to Aizawa's unit. Under another captain, she might not have been allowed to flourish. Other cops had balked at her overt use of magic at crime scenes, chasing down suspects, and more. Aizawa might've blinked a few times, not familiar with the concept at all, but he hadn't told her to stop either. That alone spurred her forward every day. She had to hope he would continue to trust them.

Bakugou was right. This was personal. The use of magic had bothered her before, but now she was furious. She felt like she should've burned hot with it, like Bakugou, but all she felt was cold. Magic was such a deeply ingrained part of it. Seeing it used like this made her think of all the frightening tales her parents had told her as a child to warn her away from abusing her power. These people must have heard these same stories - and they were living them.


End file.
